West Brom Opinion: Baggies should beat Villa to sign Mike van der Hoorn
According to the Birmingham Mail, West Brom and Aston Villa are interested in signing Swansea City centre-back Mike van der Hoorn in the summer.
The 26-year-old former Dutch U21 international is out of contract in the summer but the Swans might trigger a 12-month extension clause to keep him at the club beyond the end of the season. (h/t Birmingham Mail)
Van der Hoorn has been one of the few shining lights in Swansea’s disappointing campaign in the Championship this season, making 37 appearances in the league and scoring twice.
However, with Swansea languishing mid-table in the standings this time around and with no hopes of making an immediate return back to the Premier League, the Dutchman might be keen on joining either of the two aforementioned promotion-chasers in the summer.
The former Ajax man struggled in the Premier League occasionally last season as the Swans were relegated but he showed that he has the necessary skill set to make the step up to the highest level.
He is the sort of player who needs a consistent run in the first-team to hit top gear and given his impressive form in the second-tier this term, the Dutchman can be expected to carve out a name for himself in the top-flight next season.
Both the teams have a fair chance of making it back to the Premier League next season through the playoffs and van der Hoorn would be a welcome signing for either of them.
Villa have the option of signing Wolves loanee Kortney Hause permanently at the end of the season but Bournemouth loanee Tyrone Mings’ future is still very much up in the air, whilst Tommy Elphick is also out of contract in the summer.
Neither Villa nor West Brom have a particularly impressive defensive record in the Championship this season and both the clubs will be expected to look for defensive reinforcements.
To put things into perspective, West Brom would bag a massive coup by fending off competition from Villa to sign the Swansea City star in the summer. Irrespective of where their future lie next season, the Baggies certainly need to bolster their backline, having conceded 50 goals in the league so far this term.
Craig Dawson and Ahmed Hegazi have been very solid at the heart of the defence but West Brom should not forget that the likes of Mason Holgate and Tosin Adarabioyo are only on loan from Everton and Man City respectively.
The departure of the loanees would leave the manager with Kyle Bartley as the lone backup for the regular centre-back pairing of Hegazi and Dawson. And given that Bartley hasn’t looked solid when called into action this season, the Baggies should bring in van der Hoorn to increase competition for places at the back.
Standing at 6ft. 3 inches with a towering frame, the Dutchman is a physically-dominating centre-back who excels with his strength, aerial prowess, game-reading and ball-playing abilities at the back.
The 26-year-old boasts of a pass accuracy percentage of 85.4 in the Championship, including 4.6 successful long balls, 3.1 aerial duels, 5.9 clearances, 1.2 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per game, figures which speak volumes of his well-rounded attributes as a ball-playing centre-back.
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That said, the Baggies should go all out in their pursuit of the towering Dutchman to add more depth to their options at the back.
