Picking up quality additions in the January market is notoriously difficult as clubs tend to play ‘cat and mouse’ without wishing to let their players leave mid – term. West Ham have a slow, stodgy, porous midfield and, however it is arranged, it’s still as leaky as a farmers field.
However dressed up, the options at the heart of the team fall woefully short of Premier League standard. The ‘midfield that cannot run’ in question consists of Guido Rodriguez, Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez, an out of form Lucas Paquetá and the one possible bright light Carlos Soler.
Urgent surgery required.
Reports of midfielders on the radar come in thick and fast now that the Hammers are revitalised under Graham Potter.
Of course, links to players at former clubs Chelsea and Brighton are prevalent: The most plausible reports – for example,Football 365 – concern midfielders Carney Chukwuemeka and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (main pic) both of whom are languishing well away from the first team at Stamford Bridge. Whilst these loan signings for the remainder of the season would have seemed highly implausible under Lopetegui’s fractured regime, now the chance to work under Potter at an improving West Ham and to become the attacking duo in a box midfield would appeal to both these young, ambitious players keen to re-establish their game time.
The same report covers West Ham agreeing a loan deal for Brighton’s Evan Ferguson for the season: As much wishful thinking as potentially actually happening – (Brighton have already told West Ham to wait until the last day of the window for a decision) – this would be the icing on the cake should West Ham fix their deficiencies with a trio of loans in one window.
There is easily enough potential in the squad to achieve a top-half finish by revitalising the midfield alone, allowing Rodriguez and Alvarez to depart, whilst deferring a decision on Paquetá until the hearing in March which will decree his own future anyway.
Those two additions, plus a simple recall for James Ward Prowse, would transform West Ham’s season for zero cash outlay. Credible? Certainly.
We’ll watch for more news on the Chelsea duo whilst the club work on solving the striker shortage at the same time. Much as we’d all like it to be Evan Ferguson, Brighton do seem likely to hang on to their highly-rated youngster if they can, pending the return to fitness of their first choice Danny Welbeck.
