This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict’ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Derby County midfielder Max Bird is on West Ham United's radar, according to Hammers insider ExWHUEmployee. 

With the Rams still yet to find new ownership, there have been suggestions that players could be sold in the winter window to cover costs.

Bird is understood to be one of the players that West Ham are interested in, though they reportedly may face competition from the likes of Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion.

But would he be a good signing for West Ham? And do they need him?

We quizzed our FLW writers for their thoughts...

Marcus Ally

At just 21 Max Bird clearly has a lot of potential as a ball-playing midfielder and could be available at a cut-price in January.

Due to Derby County’s perilous situation off of the pitch, there may be value to be had for a team like West Ham. Taking on Bird, likely to loan him out and then turn a profit on his sale a few years down the line if he cannot cut the mustard in the Premier League, is a smart move.

The Hammers could probably do with a bit more depth in central midfield but that is not to say that Bird would feature much in the second half of the season.

It is in David Moyes’ best interests to bulk out the squad a little bit in order to ease their efforts on competing towards the top end of the Premier League and in the Europa League.

George Dagless

He'd be one for the future at West Ham because I don't see how he gets into that side as things stand.

The Hammers have some really quality midfield players at the moment and so Bird, for all his own talent and potential, would have to be happy to bide his time if he did move to the Hammers.

That said, it could be a good move for him in the long run. West Ham have a proven record of developing young players and making them into top class stars, plus those aforementioned midfield aces like Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek are only going to be able to help Bird improve further as a footballer.

I think David Moyes will feel as though he can help him along, too, with the Scottish manager also showing a keen interest in good EFL players having signed the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma in the recent past.

For the long term, a good signing indeed.

Ben Wignall 

Bird has been one of Derby's top performers this season in a holding midfield role and he's really coming of age.

Despite being 21 years old he plays like he's been around for years and he just keeps things ticking over whilst having a good passing range and being able to tackle.

The midfield pairing of Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek at West Ham though will probably be unbreakable for the next few years but with Mark Noble coming to the end of his career, Bird could be his potential successor.

You could definitely see Bird developing into a top level player but I'd like to see him see the season out at Pride Park instead of heading off in January from an experience point of view.

Bird will learn a lot this season from being at the Rams and with already 80 EFL appearances to his name he's experienced enough for his age - he would be a good signing for West Ham but unless they loan him back to Derby for the rest of the season then they should wait until the summer to make a move.