West Ham ready to take advantage of the Nat Phillips situation at Liverpool

Last season’s hero, Nat Phillips, has since the summer been the subject of a transfer out of Anfield, and following his first full game for Liverpool not much has changed, with West Ham United ready to take advantage of his lack of game time.

The man who helped Liverpool all the way to Champions League football with a string of dominant performances last season got his first start in the competition and for the term so far.

Despite having little game time, the robust centre-back barely put a foot wrong in Liverpool’s final Champions League group game and ran out 1-2 winners over AC Milan with his teammates at the San Siro.

This also helped confirm Liverpool as the first English club to win all of their group stage games, home and away, completing the 100% record in their quest for Champions League glory.

Nat Phillips’ situation at Liverpool

Although he has proved he has the metal to make it at a top club in one of Europe’s top leagues, there has been little seen of Nat Phillips this season. Besides his first start and first full 90 minutes under his belt, he has only featured two other times, completing as little as 46 minutes of football.

This limited amount of time spent on the pitch: he was used as a last-minute substitution against Atlético de Madrid and when he was used as a second-half sub in the Carabao Cup win over Preston.

It is clear that there will be limited game time for him at Liverpool and there would have to be another injury crisis to see him firmly cement a place in the starting XI for a long period. But all is not lost with Jurgen Klopp and the club ready to sell him if that is his heart’s desire.

The AC Milan encounter was seen as the perfect “window shopping” moment for him to go out and showcase his ability once again, and for Liverpool to have some sort of idea of an asking price for Phillips.

West Ham ready to move in for Nat Philipps

This is not the first time David Moyes has shown interest in the Englishman, and the Hammers are also not the only club wanting to sign him. Burnley have been linked with him since the summer with Sean Dyche a big admirer of the towering figure.

Moyes is said to be looking for cover for his first-choice centre-backs: Kurt Zuma and  Angelo Ogbonna. The Hammers have continued their impressive run under the Scott and to keep hammering away, they must add quality in depth.

The West Ham summer signing [Zouma] has just been ruled out for about 12 weeks of action while the latter was lost to a knee injury — and because of this —the East London club must act in the January transfer and have identified the 24-year-old as the perfect candidate.

"West Ham are ready to back David Moyes to sign defensive cover for Kurt Zouma in January after he was ruled out for up to 12 weeks with a serious hamstring injury.The injury to Zouma means Moyes is without both of his first-choice centre-backs for a sustained period having also lost Angelo Ogbonna to a knee injury last month.(Via: standard.co.uk)"

We could see this speed up quite quickly, with Moyes wanting transfer business completed early in the opening weeks of the January window. Nat Phillips is one of two targets for West Ham United, who are still eager for the out-of-contract James Tarkowski.