[ad_pod ]

With James Collins leaving the club during the summer and Winston Reid suffering another injury setback, it was clear that West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini needed to strengthen his centre-back options.

The Chilean boss certainly did that with the additions of Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena, but it remains unclear whether he would have liked another body – potentially one with a little more experience of English football – on top of the duo.

The east London outfit's record of four defeats from four in the Premier League this season with 10 goals conceded hardly shows the backline in a good light, although Diop and Balbuena came close to keeping a clean sheet at the London Stadium last time out before Adama Traore's injury-time winner for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

With Reid set to be on the sidelines for the foreseeable future, Pellegrini currently has the new boys, Ogbonna and Declan Rice – who may well be seen as a centre-half moving forward following a failed experiment in the DM role during pre-season and earlier this term – as his four options.

[brid autoplay="true" video="291495" player="12034" title="Rafa's Pub Facts Giroud Emulates Zidane & Rashford Emulates... Welbeck!"]

Considering the former Manchester City chief prefers a formation with four defenders, there are only two spots up for grabs for the four players, and while Balbuena and Rice have shown their defensive qualities, surely the experience and quality of Ogbonna, who earns £70,000-a-week according to Spotrac, coupled with the potential and pace of Diop is their best collaboration as things stand.

So, West Ham fans, what do you think is your club's best centre-back partnership? Let us know by voting on our poll below…