When West Ham travel to face Oxford United in the Carabao Cup 3rd round later this evening, the chances are that the Irons will be making plenty of changes, and one man that Manuel Pellegrini simply has to give some crucial minutes to is new signing Albian Ajeti.
The Swiss striker was signed from FC Basel off the back of a very strong 2018/19 season for a fee of around £8m, as per BBC. However, the youngster is one of those who should the man ahead of him in the pecking order, Sebastien Haller, suffer an injury, he’ll be thrown in at the deep end.
That’s exactly why giving the Swiss frontman some minutes and a chance to get used to playing competitive football alongside some of his new teammates is crucial. It’s clear that the 22-year-old knows where the goal is, but getting going in England will be key.
In his last full season with Basel, the Swiss striker, alongside former Norwich man Ricky van Wolfswinkel, bagged himself 21 goals and 11 assists in all competitions, as per Trasfermarkt. Those are very impressive numbers no matter where you’re playing football, and getting going at West Ham is crucial.
If Haller picks up an injury and happens to be out for a length of time after the Bournemouth game this weekend, the obvious man to come into the side is the only other striker at the club, Ajeti, and if he has to come into the side on no game time, it will be s recipe for disaster.
However, give Ajeti the full 90 minutes against Oxford, let him get to know some of those he could be featuring alongside in the Premier League when he eventually gets game time and it will prevent the scenario where a lot of harm can be done for the Irons later down the line.
