After four season’s, three goals and a screamer against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley, Pedro Obiang has left West Ham for Sassuolo. The Spanish-born midfielder has fetched a fee of around £7.2m for his former side (BBC), although Manuel Pellegrini needs to be careful where he reinvests that money.
The Hammers are reportedly keen to use that newfound fortune to bring in a new striker to compete with Sebastien Haller, Javier Hernandez and Michail Antonio, according to The Standard, however, the Irons would get a lot more use out of bringing in a more able defensive midfielder to use in rotation with Declan Rice.
The defensive midfield position at The London Stadium, for the most part, is well covered by the young England man, but when Rice isn’t playing, be it through injury, suspension or rotation, the Hammers have to suffer through Carlos Sanchez, their only other out-and-out defensive midfielder.
It’s true that the club could use the likes of Jack Wilshere or Mark Noble in that deeper midfield role, but bringing in a specialist for the position alongside Rice so they can truly dump Sanchez and not have to worry about the calamitous Colombian costing them in games like he did last season, with Wolves at home the key example of his ineptitude, would be a step in the right direction.
The need for a new midfielder isn’t urgent, but then neither is the need for a striker, however, with around two weeks until the start of the Premier League, strengthening as much as possible is still key for the Irons, and if a replacement for Pedro Obiang can be signed in that time, adding depth and rotation to the squad then the fans will want to see it.
Whether or not Pellegrini is granted the funds by the board is a different issue, but should he be given the money from Obiang’s departure then you can imagine that alongside Mario Husillos he’ll be able to reinvest it effectively, no matter which position he bolsters.
