With the signing of Arthur Masuaku from Olympiakos on a four-year contract, West Ham have finally managed to get a decent cover for Aaron Cresswell in the left-back position. The English international suffered a nasty long-term injury during the pre-season which will sideline him for some time which intensified the Hammers’ need for a new left-back. Now that Slaven Bilic has resolved the crisis, he has to look forward to two other areas which require serious attention- a new striker and a right-back.
Right-back was the position which haunted Slaven Bilic time and time again in his maiden season at Upton Park. Loanee Carl Jenkinson had an injury-ravaged season while James Tomkins did a decent job in an unnatural position. Sam Byram was signed from Leeds in January but the 22-year-old had his troubles with injuries as well and he is yet to make any impact at the East London club.
From the closing stages of the last season and during the pre-season and Europa League qualifiers this season, winger Michail Antonio regularly featured in the right-back position. It would be fair to say that the Englishman did a brilliant job as a makeshift right-back but he cannot be West Ham’s first choice right-back on a regular basis. The 26-year-old the defensive nous required at the top level and that might come back to haunt Bilic at the end of the season.
As per The Daily Star, West Ham have hijacked Turkish giants Galatasaray’s bid for Arsenal full-back Mathieu Debuchy. If the report is believed to be true, it will be a shrewd move from Bilic. Given the intent of the Hammers to make it big in the coming years in the Premier League and in Europe, they need seasoned players like Debuchy who are rich with top-level experience.
After graduating from the youth academy of Ligue 1 giants Lille, Debuchy spent most of his career at his boyhood club before moving to England to Newcastle in January 2013 and was an instant hit at the St. James’ Park. It took him only one and a half year to earn his big move to Arsenal in the summer of 2014.
If not for his poor luck with injuries, Debuchy could have been Arsenal’s first-choice now. The Frenchman now finds himself down in the pecking order at the Emirates behind youngsters Bellerin and Chambers and now that he is 31, he should look for a permanent switch away from the North Londoners. An experienced full-back like Debuchy, who is solid in terms of both attacking and defending, would be a brilliant addition to West Ham and won’t cost them a fortune either.
