With no football to keep us busy, we’ve been taking a look back through the archives to keep us entertained, and as we’ve taken a dive into the business that was conducted by Manuel Pellegrini during his time at The London Stadium, we’re rating each of the players he signed.
There are obviously some stipulations to this, we’re not including those signed for the club’s U23s, ruling out both Xande Silva and Goncalo Cardoso, and we won’t be ordering them, as we’re not prepared for the abuse that may follow in the comments, so this will be giving a rating out of 10 for each of the Chilean’s signings, which we do want to hear your thoughts on in the comments, just #BeKind.
With that being the case, we’ll start with the 2018 transfer window, where Pellegrini did most of his handiwork…
#1 Felipe Anderson 6/10
The Brazilian livewire has certainly shown glimpses of his obvious talent at the London Stadium, but consistency has been a major problem for the former Lazio man. The price tag obviously doesn’t help, but when paying £41.5m for a player (BBC), expectations are always high.
A solid debut season saw Anderson bag 15 goals and assists in 40 games in all competitions (Transfermarkt), but the current campaign has been a woeful one for him; we’re prepared to try and give him the benefit of the doubt, though, as he’s far from the only underperformer.
#2 Issa Diop 7/10
You might sneer at the high rating that we’ve given to the young Frenchman, but the deal to bring in the defender from Toulouse for just £22m looks like a real snip (BBC). Already the Hammers could have cashed in on Diop twice for big profit, but his value to the team is too great to allow him to leave just yet.
At just 23-years-old Diop has amassed 64 appearances for the Hammers, bagging five goals (Transfermarkt), and the Irons have already batted off interest from both Manchester United (Sky Sports) and Chelsea (The Express) in the player.
#3 Andriy Yarmolenko 3/10
As harsh as this may sound, you cannot brand an injury-prone ageing attacker with a lack of pace as a success, especially when they’ve missed more games than they’ve played, and that’s the case with Andriy Yarmolenko. The Ukrainian played in just ten of the 43 games the Irons played in all competitions last season, scoring twice and assisting once (Transfermarkt).
Those numbers just cannot have Yarmolenko branded a success, especially when you factor in that the fee was supposedly £17.5m (Sky Sports), and whilst the ex-Borussia Dortmund man could still turn things around, it doesn’t look likely.
#4 Lukasz Fabianski 10/10
Finally, we’ve stumbled onto a man who can’t be questioned, and this is the only 10/10 on the list. Fabianski signed from relegated Swansea in Pellegrini’s first summer, and he was head and shoulders the Irons best player in the Chilean’s first season, scooping the famous Hammer of the Year award (whufc.com).
The £7m fee paid for his services (BBC) could be argued as the best investment under the ownership of GSB, and whilst a few mistakes and injuries have snuck into Fabianski’s displays this season, his talent can’t be questioned and he’s already a firm fan favourite.
#5 Lucas Perez 6/10
There’s a bit of sympathy for Perez here. After a stint at Arsenal where he was very much a squad player, he made the step to sign for West Ham for a fee of just £4m (BBC) and found himself second fiddle to both Mark Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez.
When called upon, though Perez did what was required of him. He bagged six goals in 19 games for the club, although those strikes came at a rate of one just over every 118 minutes (Transfermarkt), and how the Hammers could do with the Spaniard to partner Sebastien Haller now.
#6 Fabian Balbuena 6/10
When Manuel Pellegrini paid £6.5m (Sky Sports) for Fabian Balbuena, very few fans had heard of the man who they would come to know as ‘The General’. When moving from Corinthians to Stratford this was the first time Balbuena stepped out of South America to play club football, and he’s had a fair go at the Premier League.
This season we’ve seen the Paraguayan fall away from the first team at the London Stadium but in his debut season he featured 23 times (Transfermarkt), and that number would have been higher was it not for a knee injury that required surgery.
#7 C*rlos S*nchez 0/10
We’ve had a 10/10 with Lukasz Fabianski, and now we’ve got a 0/10 with a midfield Colombian catastrophe. Sanchez is nothing short of a disgrace on a football pitch, and whilst no transfer fee was paid for him (BBC), the fact that a Premier League club is shelling out wages on him is laughable.
We toyed with not even giving Sanchez a rating given the state of his performances so far, and every single one of his 17 appearances (Transfermarkt) has been completely and utterly forgettable. The sooner he’s not on the club’s payroll the better.
#8 Jack Wilshere 0/10
Another midfield free transfer, and another 0/10. These signings are both woeful, and they were both brought in during the same transfer window, just to add insult to injury. Again, no fee was paid, and a worrying injury record was all part of the baggage with the ex-Arsenal man, but the fact he’s being paid £100,000 per/week (Spotrac) is scandalous.
Wilshere has managed one senior outing less than Sanchez has in their time at the club, but at least the former England man has a goal to his name during his 16 appearances (Transfermarkt). Sadly, though, that single strike doesn’t elevate him to a 1/10.
#9 Ryan Fredericks 5/10
On paper, Ryan Fredericks looked like a very good signing for the Hammers. No fee was paid (BBC) and he was fresh off the back of a strong campaign for Fulham in the Championship in which he helped the Whites win promotion via the play-offs, but consistency issues have hit, and now it appears he’s lost his place to young Jeremy Ngakia.
In 38 games for the Hammers, Fredericks has scored twice and assisted three times (Transfermarkt), but a recent shoulder injury against Manchester City (whufc.com) may have killed off his chance to regain the fan’s backing, as the majority of supporters are well behind Ngakia now.
#10 Samir Nasri N/A
As much as we would like to be able to give Nasri some sort of rating, the Frenchman joined the club as a free agent in January 2019 following the end of his doping ban (BBC), and he only managed six games before being released at the end of the season (Transfermarkt).
#11 Pablo Fornals 8/10
The Spaniard may have struggled to nail down a spot in the team under the management of David Moyes, but he’s starting to show his talents again, and whenever the U21 European champion is at his best the Hammers are a joy to watch, and the £24m fee (BBC) already looks like a wonderful investment.
He’s only started 15 games for the Hammers in the Premier League, yet he’s managed two goals and five assists whilst also averaging 0.6 key passes and 1.1 shots per game (WhoScored). This already looks like a good signing, and it’s one of few Pellegrini hits that the fans can thank the Chilean for.
#12 Sebastien Haller 6/10
Over the last few months, it has become apparent that Haller plays his best when he’s in a partnership up front, and that was showcased when the Frenchman bossed Southampton at the London Stadium, scoring the most recent of his seven Premier League goals (Transfermarkt).
However, the £45m fee shelled out for Haller over the summer hasn’t yet been justified, even if the signs are there that he’s a top player. Time will tell how the 25-year-old gets on at the London Stadium long-term, but judging Haller too harshly after a season in which the majority of the Irons’ have underperformed wouldn’t be fair.
#13 Albian Ajeti N/A
Much like Nasri, Ajeti just hasn’t played enough football for us to give him a fair rating. His first season at the club has seen the Swiss striker fail to score or assist in just 11 games worth 396 minutes (Transfermarkt), although the lack of game time he’s had despite Haller’s need for a strike partner is telling.
Agree or disagree with any of our ratings? Comment below!
