The Latest Big Name Linked To The Hammers
So the news broke yesterday afternoon that the unnamed winger in France that we are looking to recruit is none other than PSG’s Javier Pastore. He looks to fit the bill in the type of attacker we are looking for this summer. He has versatility and has in the past played pretty much everywhere across the front line and could be expected to pop up anywhere in an offensive position.
Stats
- 6ft 2.
- 28 Years Old.
- Moved to PSG in 2011 for £37.8m.
- 17/18 37 appearances in all competitions including 4 goals and 6 assists.
He is a luxury player make no mistake about it, he plays the game at his own pace and is not rushed into making an unnecessary pass simply because he has an opposition defender bearing down on him. He is very composed on the ball, happy to toy with a defender until the time is right to release a team mate. Although usually a winger he played most of his club football from central midfield but with the attacking options ahead of him at PSG it is going to be hard to get much game time on the flanks with the strength in depth they have at their disposal. His size (similar in stature to Arnoutovic) and strength allow him to hold his own in the middle and he has a brilliant range of passing and the intelligence to match. The thing we lack more than anything is players with the intelligence to retain the ball and play it at the right time. All too often we seem to make a rushed pass or clearance just because we are in a difficult position when a short pass to a team mate with a different view of play can easily retain possession and release the pressure.
We are lacking in players that are technically gifted on the wings and he would be a welcome addition, we only have Arnoutovic who is both intelligent and technically gifted. But all of this could be too good too be true. It would not be the first time we have been after high profile exciting players only for it too fall through for some unknown or made up reason (£££££££££££) and this news broke just a few hours before the deadline for renewals ended. I saw the news via SSN which has already been caught out once this week in relation to a quote from Sterling. It also seemed to come from a source which has appeared to lean in favour of the board.
Then before I had even stopped watching compilations of Pastore skills on YouTube I had seen it announced via another source on social media that the player has not actually been in contact with us but had already rejected Premier League clubs and wanted to go back to playing in Serie A. It was then later confirmed by Ex that we are in fact interested and to those of us that listened Pastore was the unnamed player that he wrote down the name of on his radio show this week.
But as is usually the case his wages are going to be too rich for us and in this case I don’t think I could complain as he is reported to be on £190k a week, we have a reputation and rightly so for over paying on wages for players that aren’t as good as their pay would suggest but this would be the mother of all deals for the player if he got that kind of money out of us. He is certainly a player that at his best we would all enjoy to watch gliding around the pitch at the London Stadium controlling the tempo, but there is a strong possibility in my opinion of this becoming just another Carvalho or Lacazette, he is not in the Argentine squad for the world cup so he has the time to sort his career but only time will and I for one would rather not sign a player on those kind of wages unless he is going to be coming in and outperform Payet on a good day every time he steps on a pitch for West Ham.
Is he the man to take us to the next level or would you rather see this sort of money put elsewhere? I’d love to hear your thoughts @myWHUopinion
Written By Jack | @myWHUopinion