West Ham plotting £12million January raid for Liverpool defender as Ogbonna cover

West Ham are reportedly planning a raid on top-four rivals Liverpool in the January transfer window, for defender Nat Phillips.

Football Insider suggests that the Hammers are keen to bring the towering centre-back to Stratford, and could look to secure a deal worth around £12 million in the coming months.

The Irons are in the market for a new central defender after Italian international Angelo Ogbonna suffered an ACL injury in a clash against Liverpool, that looks set to sideline him for the rest of the season.

West Ham won that game 3-2, and at the weekend also beat Chelsea by the same scoreline to underline their Champions League credentials.

For his part, Phillips has struggled for game time at Anfield this term, having played a considerable part in the Reds’ campaign last time around.

Virgil Van Dijk is fit again this season, with Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konaté competing for the other spot.

The 24-year-old has played just 134 minutes of football across all competitions in 2021/22.

What are the bookies saying?

The Hammers currently trail a couple of their Premier League rivals in the race to land Phillips, according to the bookmakers.

At the time of writing, SkyBet have installed Newcastle United as favourites to land Phillips at a price of 4/1, closely followed by Burnley at 5/1.

After that pairing, West Ham and London rivals Crystal Palace both come in at 6/1, with Brighton trailing heavily at lengthy odds of 20/1.

However if Phillips wants glory, West Ham are the highest place of the teams chasing him - and it would be an attractive option to team up with England international Declan Rice.

How likely are West Ham to seal the deal?

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see David Moyes’ men double-down in their efforts to land Phillips over the coming weeks.

With Ogbonna sidelined for the foreseeable, defensive cover will be a real priority for the Irons in January, and at £12 million or so, the Liverpool man could be an affordable option with proven Premier League experience.

The caveat to all of this is that Phillips only signed a new long-term deal at Anfield in August.

But with competition for places at centre-back looking especially high at the moment, it could well be that his new deal represents more of a security net for Liverpool’s valuation of the player than it does a stumbling block to his exit.

Whether they can fight of a newly-moneyed Newcastle United remains to be seen, however – and that’s if the Reds decide they want to sell at all.