West Ham United fans were gifted a brilliant display of attacking football when the Hammers thrashed Crystal Palace last weekend and Andy Carroll’s bicycle kick was surely the cherry on the cake. At a time, when most of their players are either injured, or away at AFCON, and some even unwilling to play, such a performance will definitely instil confidence in the team.
The Hammers are now in touching distance of the top half of the table and Slaven Bilic will hope his players continue their remarkable display in the second half of the season to end the campaign on a high. The boss was already under immense pressure to bring in new players this January and it further doubled when Dimitri Payet refused to play for the team anymore, handing a transfer request.
According to reports, Bilic is eyeing a move for Chelsea’s summer recruit Michy Batshuayi once again. The 23-year-old had opted for a move to the Stamford Bridge over the London Stadium last summer and hasn’t found his decision quite fruitful. His failure to impress boss Antonio Conte and Diego Costa’s fierce form have contributed to the Belgian not able to make any start in the Premier league till date.
He has come on from the bench 13 times for the Blues, mostly in the dying minutes of the game when it is often almost won. The lack of urgency to attack has resulted in the Belgian bagging only one goal and one assist so far.
Even when Conte had to leave out his best forward back at home to play away at Leicester City, the Italian didn’t opt for his second-choice striker and played Pedro up front. The former Marseille man has refused a loan move to Swansea City when there were talks of Conte planning a move for Fernando Llorente, as he wanted to stay with the Blues.
That doesn’t seem to be a wise decision either. The Hammers boss is apparently readying an offer in the region of £20m to secure his signature after an initial loan proposal was rejected by the Blues. With Payet sure to leave London Stadium, Batshuayi could be a good addition for the Hammers, although he is definitely not Payet’s replacement.
Chelsea bought the Belgian for 33 million pounds last summer and they would definitely not agree on a meagre fee the Hammers are plotting apparently. But, we think it’s a move to kick start initial negotiations as Bilic wants to use the huge money from the sale of Payet to fund this move.
