I hate to say ‘I told you so, Hammers fans, but Simone Zaza has been an expected flop this season and West Ham should seriously look into cancelling his loan deal before he reaches his activation clause.
There’s no denying he is a hard worker but his initial input in creative play and finishing has been poor, even beyond my expectations. I thought he would have bagged a goal at least by now, but unfortunately the Premier League is obviously not suited to his style of play.
So that apparently leaves West Ham with £17m to spend on recruitments in January.
Some people will say that spending huge amounts of money on the problem will solve it, but this is not necessarily the case. The transfer kitty should be wisely spent on a right wing-back and a striker who should both be experienced in England.
The 3-3-3-1 or 3-4-3 formation is refreshing but not long term, we are only playing to our strengths and weaknesses as we have a lack of wing backs and our vast depth of midfielders. The squad doesn’t have any structure and there is clearly no faith in using youngsters as the main strikers in our starting line-up.
I feel that Ashley Fletcher should be given his chance for a good run of games, but maybe his skills are only as effective as a wide striker and probably needs to be playing a solid handful of games at Championship level before claiming his place – we have to remember that young Fletcher was playing for League One side Barnsley for the second half of last season and grabbing a handful of goals.
The two strikers I felt we should have seriously purchased this year have both moved onto new clubs – Ben Yedder to Sevilla and Aboubakar to Besiktas on loan.
Ben Yedder made a permanent move to Sevilla from Toulouse and scored on his debut, but games and goals have not come as expected to the young Frenchman, only playing 11 times in all competitions, scoring 4 goals. Could Ben Yedder be frustrated at the La Liga side and opt for a loan move abroad to enhance his chances? Maybe a cheeky loan deal could become available?
Aboubakar is one of my favourite strikers of today; his pace, strength and clinical goal scoring ability both in France and Portugal secured a move to Champions League side Besiktas on a season-long loan deal.
Raking up 627 minutes of football, 11 games and scoring three goals – like Ben Yedder – he has struggled to find his feet, despite being Beskitas’ main man up top. But his performances have not damaged his team by grabbing vital points and putting in solid unselfish performances. A transfer deal seems unlikely this January even if he club was interested in him. So maybe an approach could be in summer 2017?
The striker West Ham should definitely look into buying has a natural eye for goal, someone who won’t break the bank and knows how to get into double figures, something West Ham crave.
Will Grigg is my personal favourite, who has five goals to his name in the league already for a poor Wigan Athletic side and a team who would be willing to sell as they are fighting relegation.
Dwight Gayle is currently the top goal scorer in the league with 11 goals for Newcastle and the fans are loving him at the moment – along with Mitrovic.
But I honestly feel Cameron Jerome is the player we should look into buying this winter. Jerome is a consistent striker in the Championship and always finds the net. He has had a tough time over the past few years, being part of yo-yo clubs going season in season out of the Premier League AND not really finding his consistency in the league.
Maybe a transfer to an established Premier League club – here he is getting on the end of Payet and Lanzini’s passes and Creswell’s crosses – could see him become a hero from under the radar. The club have done well picking up players from the Championship who have gone on to be legends and icons of the club, is there room for one more at Zaza’s expense?
We also desperately need to invest in a right-back and look no further than Carl Jenkinson. In my previous transfer target articles, I selected Jenko to return in a permanent deal.
Jenko is returning from a very long injury spell caused in a game for West Ham v Man City last season. His fitness boost may allow Wenger to sell and cash in on a player who has only played a handful of games for the Gunners over the last few years.
Who would you like at the club this January to replace Zaza? Do West Ham need to gamble big money on one player again? Or do we give British players in the lower leagues a chance?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Come on you Irons!
