The summer transfer window saw West Ham defender Craig Dawson come agonisingly close to leaving the Hammers.
In an effort to secure a replacement, David Moyes targetted Southampton’s Jan Bednarek, but after agreeing to sign for Aston Villa at the final hour, the Poland international’s move to the London Stadium collapsed, forcing Dawson to remain with the club.
However, despite the dramatic saga earlier this summer, according to a club insider who goes by the name of ‘ExWHUEmployee’, the club have not ruled out a January exit.
“Jan Bednarek chose to join Aston Villa instead of us. He was due to sign for us, which then meant that Dawson’s move to Wolves, which was on the cards for about £5m, was pulled because we didn’t have a centre-back that we wanted to replace,” the insider wrote on his Patreon.
“So we kept that, which was much to Dawson’s – I don’t know if displeasure’s the right word – but frustration, because without going into too much detail because it’s not for me to say, but Dawson does commute from up north.
“He commutes every day to training from there. And he’s got his kids and young family and obviously with Europe, he was away a lot.
“But there’s also a little bit more to it than just that. People say, why doesn’t he just move down here? It isn’t that simple. It’s not for me to say, but it’s not that simple. So he may be allowed to go in January.”
Since joining the Hammers from Watford in 2020, Dawson, who has 12 months left on his deal, has gone on to feature in 74 matches, in all competitions, directly contributing to 10 goals along the way.