According to reports in The Metro, West Ham United are monitoring the situation of Manchester United centre-back Chris Smalling, who earns £80,000-a-week according to the Daily Mail, ahead of a potential summer move.

What's the word, then?

Well, The Metro says that Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho is in the market for a new centre-back with Tottenham Hotspur's Toby Alderweireld a target, and should he get the Belgian or another then he may need to offload one of his centre-halves.

The Metro says that the Irons would be ready to capitalise and make an offer for the 28-year-old if that proves to be the case.

The report adds that new Hammers boss has been given £70m to spend this summer, and he wants two new central defenders with the east London outfit, whose fans want the club to sign a £16.2m-rated free-kick specialist to replace long-term absentee Manuel Lanzini, having lost both Jose Fonte and James Collins in recent months, and with Winston Reid continuing to be hampered by injury issues.

How did Smalling fare during the 2017/18 campaign?

Following the arrival of Victor Lindelof last summer, the England international would have surely been fearing for his future thinking that the Swede and Eric Bailly would be Mourinho's first-choice partnership.

However, Lindelof struggled to impress and Bailly suffered his fair share of injury issues, meaning Smalling was something of a regular in the United backline.

The 6ft 4in made 46 appearances in all competitions, scoring four goals in 29 Premier League outings including the winner in the Manchester derby in April.

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Would he be a good West Ham signing?

Smalling has become something of a scapegoat at times for Man United supporters which has tainted his reputation in some ways, and the fact that he missed out on the England squad despite a lack of quality options at centre-back would mean that he would be something of a controversial buy for the Irons.

That said, while the 28-year-old may be prone to the odd error he would bring plenty of experience to the Irons backline, and his strength in the air and in possession of the ball would mean that he proves to be an inspired addition.

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