West Ham now in the lead to sign colossus tipped as future captain by Gerrard; Terry loves him

West Ham United appear to have an edge in the race to sign Nottingham Forest defender Joe Worrall, according to club insiders Claret & Hugh.

The 25-year-old has played an instrumental part in Forest’s recent defensive success. Having played in 29 Championship games this season, missing the other seven matches due to a fractured rib and a calf problem, the Reds have kept 12 clean sheets to date – an average of one every three games.

The defender leads his team in interceptions, averaging two per game, and also in the number of passes he makes, with 55.1 per league match (via WhoScored).

According to West Ham insiders Claret & Hugh, the Irons have a small edge in the race to sign Worrall, with the chase now heating up.

It is understood that Forest are yet to open contract talks with the player, despite his current deal expiring in just over two years’ time.

Favourably for the Hammers, Forest manager Steve Cooper remains keen on Irons academy left-back Emmanuel Longelo, who can thus be used to negotiate a potential deal between the two clubs.

West Ham have been left extremely short at centre-back at times this season. With the season-ending blow sustained by Angelo Ogbonna and the hamstring injury which sidelined Kurt Zouma for six weeks, David Moyes was left with just Craig Dawson and Issa Diop for a period of time.

Therefore, it is imperative that the Irons rectify this issue in the summer.

During Worrall’s loan stay at Rangers in 2018/19, then-Ibrox manager Steven Gerrard tipped the defender to “be a captain of whatever team he plays for”. More recently, England centre-back legend John Terry praised the 25-year-old’s performance against Liverpool in the FA Cup last week.

As a result, it seems clear that the Forest