He once cost £38m: West Ham weigh up move to sign "dominant" Kilman upgrade

This season is turning into a nightmare for West Ham United.

The fans knew in the summer that it was going to be a brutal campaign, but few would have expected the performances and results to be as bad as they have been.

The 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night has left the Hammers in 18th place, seven points off safety and facing the very real possibility of relegation come May.

However, there is still time for the club to get things right, and if reports are to be believed, West Ham could be in for someone who could be an upgrade on the dire Max Kilman and help Nuno Espírito Santo stave off the drop.

West Ham eye Kilman upgrade

With relegation from the Premier League this season no longer an unlikely possibility, West Ham have already been decisive in the transfer window.

The East Londoners have looked to address their misfiring attack by bringing in Argentine striker Taty Castellanos from Lazio and Pablo Felipe from Portuguese club Gil Vicente.

However, it’s not just the forward line that needs refreshing, and it looks like the club could be moving to improve the defence as well.

At least that is according to a recent report from TEAMtalk, which claims West Ham are once again interested in signing Axel Disasi.

The report has revealed that the relegation-threatened side are ‘weighing up a move’ for the Chelsea player now that their pursuit of Charlie Cresswell looks unlikely to succeed.

Interestingly, the report has revealed that, given his place in their ‘bomb squad,’ the Blues would be willing to let their £38m signing leave this month, although the Hammers would want to bring him in on loan.

It remains to be seen if this is a deal that could be worked out, but if there is a chance West Ham can sign Disasi on a short-term deal, they should, as it would be low risk and he’d be an instant upgrade on Kilman.

Why Disasi would be an upgrade on Kilman

Now, a link like this isn’t going to please everyone, as the elephant in the room is that West Ham would be picking up a flop from Chelsea.

However, while that doesn’t sound great, it’s also not really a fair stick to beat the Frenchman with, as plenty of quality players have failed at Stamford Bridge and succeeded elsewhere.

Moreover, a player not being good enough for a team with Champions League ambitions doesn’t mean they won’t be good enough for a team fighting off relegation.

With that said, another key reason why the Hammers should sign the former AS Monaco star is that he’d be an instant upgrade on Kilman.

The best way to show this is by comparing the Englishman’s underlying numbers from this season to the Frenchman’s from last year, when he was actually playing.

Unsurprisingly, it’s the Gonesse-born titan who comes out looking miles better.

In fact, he outdoes his potential competition in practically every metric, including progressive passes and carries, passing accuracy, tackles, tackles won, interceptions, ball recoveries, and percentage of aerial duels won, all per 90.

Disasi vs Kilman
Statistics per 90	Disasi	Kilman
Non-Penalty Expected G+As	0.11	0.05
Progressive Carries	1.15	0.29
Progressive Passes	3.33	2.24
Passing Accuracy	90.4%	87.8%
Key Passes	0.67	0.24
Tackles	1.58	0.94
Tackles Won	0.78	0.46
Interceptions	1.00	0.46
Ball Recoveries	3.45	2.47
% of Aerial Duels Won	62.9%	58.2%
All Stats via FBref for 24/25 vs 25/26

On top of having the undoubtedly better statistics to his name, the “dominant” defender, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, also has more impressive experience.

He’s played in Europe, won the Conference League, and for a time was battling in the top half of the Premier League for one of the so-called ‘big six’ sides.

Ultimately, it’s not the most exciting of transfers, but Disasi is a talented defender, would be a massive upgrade on Kilman and could help Nuno stave off relegation.

Therefore, even if they have to pay a small fee, West Ham should go out and sign him.