West Ham are reportedly serious about signing Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli in January and the Italian may very well be David Moyes’ subsequent Declan Rice on the London Stadium.
Reports from Italy during the last month have claimed that each the Hammers and Arsenal are eager on bringing the Italy worldwide to the Premier League within the winter switch window.
The report means that any transfer for the midfielder is prone to value round €40m (£35m), with an exit seemingly on the playing cards regardless of his spectacular kind for Max Allegri’s aspect to date this marketing campaign.
The 24-year-old maestro has made 11 appearances in Serie A this season and averaged a really sturdy 6.96 score from WhoScored for his performances, which ranks him because the sixth-best performer within the Outdated Girl’s squad.
If he have been to supply the identical stage of efficiency in West Ham’s squad, then he could be ranked as their joint-best participant alongside Rice from the present marketing campaign, which emphasises the standard that he might add to Moyes’ aspect.
Ought to West Ham signal Locatelli?
Sure
No
The previous Sassuolo man has additionally been a key man for Italy in recent times, starring of their European Championships win in 2021 and of their Nations League marketing campaign final yr, with the midfielder scoring twice within the former. That has led him to earn loads of reward from BBC contributor Raj Chohan.
He said: “Italy performed Locatelli on the base as a substitute of Jorginho vs Belgium within the Nations League third-place playoff and appeared unreal. He’s obtained far more line-breaking passes in his locker.”
In accordance with FBRef, probably the most comparable participant from Europe’s prime leagues to Locatelli when it comes to fashion of play is coincidentally West Ham’s personal membership captain.
The 2 midfielders have averaged extraordinarily comparable numbers in regard to pictures on track per 90 (0.30 vs 0.27), brief go completion (89.9% vs 90%) and goal-creating actions per 90 (each 0.20).
Crucially, additionally they win again possession at an analogous charge, with that being a trait synonymous with Rice. Locatelli has received 1.02 tackles per 90 minutes in comparison with the Hammers talisman’s 1.07.
WhoScored additional means that each Rice and Locatelli excel at passing and blocking the ball, so they’re clearly very comparable gamers in the course of the park.
The previous has already established himself as among the finest younger midfielders within the Premier League, so including one other participant of that ilk in Locatelli would absolutely be an excellent transfer by West Ham. GSB ought to undoubtedly look to deliver the Italian in after the World Cup.