The Athletic's David Ornstein reported that West Ham are weighing up a move for the 21-year-old Sampdoria midfielder Ronaldo Vieira as he is liked by both David Sullivan and David Moyes.

If that deal was really to go through, there would be a clear winner and a clear loser emerging from it.

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Winner: West Ham's defence

With a total of 38 goals conceded across 23 games played in the ongoing 2019/20 Premier League season, West Ham have one of the worst defences in the whole competition. So much so than only three teams - Norwich, Southampton and Aston Villa - have conceded more at this stage of the season.

They can also boast with just six clean sheets in total throughout the year and this is already enough to paint the real picture of the team's struggles under Moyes. But with Vieira's potential arrival to the club, an additional holding player in the middle of the park could go a long way to actually ironing those issues out.

Currently, the Hammers need a lot more cover for that backline of theirs and the young midfielder just might be the answer to their prayers.

Loser: Carlos Sanchez

The 33-year-old veteran is already on the fringes over at West Ham as it is and with the possible addition of a young, up and coming midfielder, his career as one of the Hammers could be seriously under threat.

Sanchez has only been able to muster 338 minutes of game time across all competitions in 2019/20 and was even substituted off in West Ham's defeat to West Brom in the FA Cup on Saturday.

Add to that the fact that his contract is due to expire in the coming summer and it's rather easy to see why Vieira's transfer could very well spell doom for the Colombia international. This just might be the end of the road for the veteran and the youngster could be the one to hammer the final nail into his coffin.