Over the summer, West Ham United fans were left delighted as they brought in both Pablo Fornals and Sebastien Haller from Villarreal and Eintracht Frankfurt. However, one key piece of business they did was selling Pedro Obiang to Sassuolo for a small fee of just over £7m (BBC).
The 27-year-old Spanish-born Equatorial Guinea international football has been putting together quite the run of form in the Italian top flight, and whilst he’s been going about his business, the Hammers have struggled greatly with their midfield this season.
Now it looks like the Irons are in the market for a midfielder, and with many of the touted moves looking like loan options more than anything, it seems that David Moyes could really do with having the former Iron in his side now, as his only two options are Declan Rice and Mark Noble.
Obviously that pairing of West Ham academy graduates isn’t going to be an easy one to break up, but with Noble kicking on in his career as a Hammer, he isn’t capable of playing the same amount of minutes at the same intensity as he previously could, and Obiang would be perfect to step into the side.
Looking into the stats, Obiang has been a much better player than Noble this season. The 27-year-old has averaged more key passes, successful aerial duels, tackles, interceptions and clearances per game, as well as giving the ball away less and winning more fouls (WhoScored).
Will Moyes turn our season around?
Yes
No
Given those numbers, the fans would likely love to have their former midfield man back at the club. The small fee of just £7.2m has turned out to be one hell of a mistake, and the chances are that if a midfielder does come in then the Irons would do very well to get someone as good as Obiang for a similar fee.
