West Ham United must boot Winston Reid out of the London Stadium before Monday night’s transfer deadline amid claims the defender has been offered to Liverpool.

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Star, the Irons have proposed Reid as a potential late option for Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League champions to sign as they deal with an injury crisis in central defence.

The Reds are likely to field Jordan Henderson beside academy product Rhys Williams for their trip to West Ham on Sunday afternoon, after Joel Matip joined Fabinho, Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez in the proverbial treatment room.

Reports have suggested that Liverpool have approached Issa Diop over a move to Anfield as an alternative target to Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi and free agent Neven Subotic, and they were informed that West Ham would consider a loan deal that carried a £20m obligation to buy in the summer.

Reid is considered to be a much cheaper option for Liverpool with the Reds expected to target a showpiece centre-back at the end of the season, thus they must be careful with their spending ahead of Monday’s deadline.

The Hammers are said to likely accept a loan deal for Reid to move to Anfield until the summer, having returned to east London after Sporting KC chose not to pursue their option to purchase the defender, following claims from head coach David Moyes.

“We have him back and if he wants to go out on loan, we’ll be open to that. But we’re also very happy to have him around the place. At the moment, we have four centre-halves who are competing for positions and we don’t have too many openings in that area,” Moyes said, via quotes by Claret & Hugh.

Reid spent 2020 on loan at MLS outfit Sporting KC, starting in 10 of his 12 appearances, and played only his second game in claret and blue since March 2018 on Friday night after featuring for the first 45 minutes of a PL2 tie with Southampton’s B-team.

West Ham must get rid of Reid

Offering Reid to Liverpool is a shrewd move by the West Ham hierarchy, as it is very unlikely that the 32-year-old will ever play a senior game for the east London outfit again and therefore, they must do all they can to see him leave the club in the current window.

Reid has evidently overcome the serious knee injury he sustained in a Premier League fixture with Swansea City in March 2018, and he can offer Klopp proven top-flight experience with 167 appearances in the competition since 2010.

He has also been lauded for his leadership on the field for Sporting KC, but is considered to be Moyes’ sixth-choice option behind Diop, Fabian Balbuena, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell and Craig Dawson.

There is also hope that 17-year-old Jamal Baptiste can challenge for a first-team role, and he may be offered that chance if Diop or Reid were to depart in the final days of the winter market.

Thus, with that many options ahead in the pecking order, Moyes has no need for Reid and he would be able to fear strengthening a potential rival for European qualification far less than if Diop were the one that was on the move.

Yet only loaning Reid to Liverpool could be a mistake, as it will leave the Hammers in the same situation come the summer when they must find a suitor willing to purchase the £70,000-per-week veteran, who will still have two years remaining on his contract.

It was Reid’s contract that made it impossible for Sporting KC to retain the centre-back, and a temporary spell at Anfield would only prolong the inevitable discussions of buying him out of his deal or allowing him to leave for free to get his wages off the books.

Still, if the best option is that Liverpool take Reid and pay his salary, then it could be an offer that West Ham accept.

AND in other news, GSB may rue missed West Ham deal for “excellent” 10-goal striker