West Ham United are now a club in transition. After a few impressive seasons, the club has failed drastically in the league this time around. It led to the sacking of Slaven Bilic and the fiery Croatian has been replaced by ex-Everton and Manchester United boss David Moyes.
The club has a number of issues to deal with right now. The Hammers brought in impressive attackers in Arnautovic and Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez but have not been able to get their game going and after bagging only 11 goals in 11 games, the Hammers sit 18th with a feeble 9 points on the table. Their entrance to the relegation was the final straw for the board and led to the sacking of Bilic.
The common perception to the Hammers drastic collapse is being reasoned as a lack of balance in the team. The team is too heavily loaded up front with lack of quality midfielders and defenders. So Moyes, who will no doubt want to reshuffle the pack to his whims and fancies, now has the backing of the board to go ahead with the transfer dealing of any player as long as the board can sanction the money. Moyes wants to bring in midfielders like Harry Arter of Bournemouth or William Carvalho of Sporting Lisbon, with whom they were linked in the summer.
To make funds available for such transfers, it is being reported that West Ham are ready to sell Arnautovic, who has not been able to cut it at London this season. The report of Harry Arter will be an interesting choice and perhaps the most likely of the midfield lot to come to West Ham.
Arter, known for his aggressive nature of football is a midfield warrior, something any Premier League club needs. He has a battery that can run for the full length of the match and the Irish international never shies away from a tackle.
West Ham United have an array of forwards in Diafra Sakho, Andre Ayew and Javier Hernandez with creative midfielders like Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini to boost their attack. What they are lacking in at the moment is a defensive midfielder who will win tackles in the middle of the park for them and turn over possession quickly enough for the Hammers frontline without them losing momentum every time an attack fails.
In such a position, Arter would be the perfect foil for the forward players as he would sit deep and create the base the Hammers lack now. However, whether Eddie Howe would be willing to sell Arter, who is an important member of the Bournemouth set-up right now, remains to be seen.
