West Ham United’s on-loan striker Evan Ferguson scored for the Republic of Ireland during their UEFA Nations League win over Bulgaria on Sunday night.
Evan Ferguson moved to the London Stadium on loan from Brighton on transfer deadline day in the January window, but he has failed to impress for West Ham so far.
It has been claimed that West Ham are unlikely to sign Evan Ferguson permanently this summer.
Graham Potter was desperate to sign the young striker for the Hammers.
And with that in mind, the way he has eased him into action far too slowly has been rather bizarre.
West Ham were in no danger of relegation when he joined us, nor were we in with a chance of pushing for the European places.
So Potter had nothing to lose. The West Ham head coach bringing Evan Ferguson on for the final two minutes against Everton was the final straw for me.
And now the Hammers boss could be made to pay for his overly cautious approach to giving the striker minutes.
Evan Ferguson breaks goal-scoring duck for Ireland
The 20-year-old scored a big goal for his country on Sunday night.
It was the first time he has found the back of the net since November 2024, and only his third goal for club and country all season long.
Ferguson showed some really neat footwork around the halfway line before beating his man and laying the ball off to his teammate.
A clever little one-two saw the Hammers loanee through on goal, and he smashed the ball into the roof of the net.
The goal would have done absolute wonders for the Brighton-owned striker’s confidence, and it was clear what the strike meant to him by his reaction immediately after scoring.
However, Ferguson’s goal is actually not great news for West Ham.
I feel like we’ve already missed the boat with the Irish striker.
Evan Ferguson goal is bad news for West Ham
The Hammers have only nine Premier League games remaining now.
Ferguson has played just 92 Premier League minutes spread over five substitute appearances for West Ham so far.
Potter has already wasted nearly two months of having Ferguson at the London Stadium.
The Hammers head coach should have thrown him in the starting lineup as soon as he joined us.
News emerged over the weekend that Brighton are unhappy with the lack of minutes Evan Ferguson has been given at West Ham so far.
He will either be too expensive for us in the summer or the Seagulls will choose to keep him instead.
Evan Ferguson’s goal for Ireland against Bulgaria may well give him the confidence boost he needed.
The 20-year-old will probably now finish the season strongly, but because West Ham didn’t include a buy obligation or option in the deal, we won’t have any chance whatsoever of signing him anyway.
