London clubs West Ham United have announced their latest signing of teenage attacking midfielder Sead Haksabanovic, who arrives at London Stadium from Swedish side Halmstads BK for £2.7 million on a five-year contract.
The 18-year-old, who has just changed his Swedish nationality into Montenegrin, becomes Slaven Bilic’s fifth signing of the season and in all probability the last of the lot. Stepping into the summer this season with the debacle of their previous transfer season fresh in their minds, the Hammers have done a pretty decent job, to be honest.
Unlike last season, their arrivals are all very experienced in the league and productive in their own spheres. The Irons have brought in goal keeper Joe Hart on loan from Manchester City, striker Javier Hernandez from Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, winger Marko Arnautovic from Stoke City and full-back Pablo Zabaleta from Manchester City (free transfer).
However, among all the positions strengthened, midfield still remains a vulnerable area for Bilic with some pretty inconsistent bunch of players like Mark Noble, Edmilson Fernandes, Pedro Obiang and Cheikhou Kouyaté. All the available options are mostly box to box midfielders with hardly anyone capable of creating chances from the deep.
Haksabanovic’s arrival isn’t expected to change the first team selections much as the 18-year-old would need time to adapt to the pace and style of the Premier League that Bilic is likely to facilitate through the EFL Cup games. However, Haksabanovic’s talent remains undeniable and there is no reason to believe that the youngster won’t break into the team soon.
The Montenegro international had made his national debut in Sweden three years back when he was only 15, becoming the second-youngest to do that from Swedish league Allsvenskan.
Breaking into the senior side of Halmstads BK in 2015 the boy form Hyltebruk has made more than 70 first-team appearances so far, scoring 13 goals and assisting 10 times. His national career is yet to kick off properly as he failed to make any sort of impact there. The left-sided midfielder could be a real catch for Bilic alongside the physically dominating Obiang or Kouyate.
Although he is unlikely to be a threat from aerial duels at 174cm, his ability to dribble away from congested areas and find passes from the deep midfield will surely come in handy for West Ham. With the addition of Chicarito and Arnautovic up top, his passes could be well picked giving the Hammers a different attacking dimension to their hackneyed approach of last season.
