Jonathan Calleri hasn’t has the best of starts to his West Ham career this season, but should the club sign up one of Argentina’s most promising strikers on a permanent deal?
In recent weeks we’ve seen more of Calleri on the pitch and he is slowly moulding into a striker that West Ham need for next season. Since scoring his first goal against Middlesbrough his confidence has grown and Slaven Bilic is utilising him by linking up with his fellow Argentinean, Manuel Lanzini.
Michal Antonio has been officially ruled out for the rest of the season and this weekend Jo Calleri is due to link up with Andy Carroll to gain minutes towards the end of the season.
It could be argued that Sakho may play, but he is still not match fit to start a game. With Andy by his side and Lanzini behind him, could we see a glimpse of Bilic’s attacking style by having these three feature together for the first time from the kick-off?
Although Calleri is not as dominant in the air as Carroll, he has a lot more in his locker than his striking partner. Calleri uses his strength and Argentinean flair to dribble the ball past defenders and run towards the byline to provide a cross, despite his lack of creativity.
Although he isn’t as fast as Antonio, his movement on the pitch is so good and he doesn’t need pace to get himself into position. His work ethic for the team has been noticed by fans and it won’t long before he will be will be one of the first names on the sheet.
Take into account this is his first season in Europe, playing for a club that has had no real structure and the players he is playing around are not allowing him to fulfil his potential. He needs another flair type player to play with to allow him to get more involved in the game. Maybe we already have that in the youth system? Also, the guy is only 23-years-old and could develop into a very good player that could eventually be worth £30m+ – that’s a huge statement.
Bilic does have an eye for talent by getting in Lanzini and, controversially, Gokhan Tore. I strongly believe that the club need to secure Jonathan Calleri’s services on a long term deal and played regularly next season. He has attracted interest from the biggest clubs in Europe and these clubs don’t look at the average player.
It would be interesting to see how much it would be to acquire his services on a permanent basis.
