West Ham wants to sign Jonathan Tah for £20 million in January, ahead of Newcastle and Manchester United

The news outlet reports on their website (15 November) that Newcastle and Manchester United are also interested in the 6ft 5′ central defender who represents Germany at the international level.

West Ham may have an advantage in the race for the 27-year-old thanks to Tim Steidten, their technical director, who worked with Tah at Leverkusen.

“Newcastle are weighing up a January move for Bayer Leverkusen’s £20m-rated defender Jonathan Tah,” according to the report.

“Manchester United and West Ham are among the clubs all around Europe who also like the look of the German international and Newcastle could face stiff competition.”

Tah is a huge talent and a quality central defender, and with so many questions surrounding our squad heading into January, this could be a very wise move.

Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd are the team’s first-choice defenders right now, with Angelo Ogbonna and Dinos Mavropanos providing immediate cover.

However, Zouma and Aguerd have been linked with moves to Saudi Arabia during the winter window, and Ogbonna is getting on in years, so bolstering the squad may be necessary.

Using Steidten’s connections and extensive network worked well in the summer with the signings of Edson Alvarez and Mohammed Kudus, and this could be another instance where we need to do so to get a deal done ahead of the competition.

Tah would most likely push for a regular starting spot here and, at £20 million, would be a steal, so this is one to keep an eye on in the coming months.