West Ham reportedly plot eight-figure January raid for Liverpool player

West Ham are planning to make a move for Liverpool defender Nat Phillips in the January transfer window, according to Football Insider.

A fresh report from the online outlet suggests that the Irons are keen to bring the towering centre-back to East London, and could look to secure a deal worth around £12 million in the coming months.

The Hammers are in the market for a new central defender after Angelo Ogbonna suffered an ACL injury that looks set to sideline him for the rest of the season.

For his part, Phillips has struggled for game time at Anfield this term, having played a considerable part in the Reds’ campaign last time around. The 24-year-old has played just 134 minutes of football across all competitions in 2021/22.

What are the bookies saying?

The Hammers are in the running, but at the moment, they trail a couple of their Premier League rivals in the race to land Phillips, according to the bookmakers.

At the time of writing, SkyBet have installed Newcastle United as favourites to land Phillips at a price of 4/1, closely followed by Burnley at 5/1.

After that pairing, West Ham and London rivals Crystal Palace both come in at 6/1, with Brighton trailing heavily at lengthy odds of 20/1.

How likely are West Ham to seal the deal?

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see David Moyes’ men double-down in their efforts to land Phillips over the coming weeks.

With Ogbonna sidelined for the foreseeable, defensive cover will be a real priority for the Irons in January, and at £12 million or so, the Liverpool man could be an affordable option with proven Premier League experience.

The caveat to all of this is that Phillips only signed a new long-term deal at Anfield in August, but with competition for places at centre-back looking especially high at the moment, it could well be that his new deal represents more of a security net for Liverpool’s valuation of the player than it does a stumbling block to his exit.

Whether they can fight of a newly-moneyed Newcastle United remains to be seen, however – and that’s if the Reds decide they want to sell at all…