After a terrible start to one of their most anticipated season in years, West Ham United have pretty much held some ground in the Premier League of late and aim to finish in the top half. Although Slaven Bilic’s men are now again on the back of a three-game losing streak, they are comfortably placed in the 11th position in the league table.
After a wise winter shopping, Bilic has pretty much made amends for the horrible signings he did last summer and the Hammers have got back their lost confidence. Their present concern, however, has been their never-ending injury list. West Ham are currently without nine of their first team players and one look at their remaining fixtures will give enough hints about the enormous storm coming Bilic’s way.
The Hammers face teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur in the next nine games and a pretty much non-existent midfield means the Croat manager’s chances of success are extremely slim. Injuries to Mark Noble and Pedro Obiang forced Bilic to play Cheikhou Kouyate as the single pivot, who has spent most of the season as a right-back.
Thin cushion in front of the defence didn’t help much as West Ham conceded three against Leicester City last game. Bilic is in desperate need of a central midfielder with neither of his first-choice duo impressing this campaign, and he is targeting Bundesliga midfielder Steven Zuber this summer.
The Hammers are reportedly in talks with the Hoffenheim player, who has had an impressive season in Bundesliga so far. The London club is ready to shell out as much as £8.6m for the 25-year-old Switzerland international. And as expected, the German side won’t be willing to part ways with one of their most effective assets for that small amount.
Zuber has scored three times so far and assisted twice so far and attracted many with his intelligent through balls and defensive contribution. Although mainly a winger, he can also play in the midfield and Bilic would primarily need him in that position as there are options like Robert Snodgrass, Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini in the wide positions already.
An academy product of Swiss side FC Winterthur Jugend, Zuber came up through the ranks of Grasshopper Club Zurich, before making his big move to Russian side CSKA Moscow in 2013. One impressive season there and Hoffenheim picked him up the following year. He has since established himself as a first-team player for the club.
Hoffenheim have a real chance of securing a Champions League spot next season as they are now in the fourth position of the Bundesliga with just four points behind Borussia Dortmund. And convincing Zuber will become doubly difficult if Hoffenheim manages to qualify.
