According to the latest reports, West Ham United are the new entrants to sign Jamaican winger Alex Marshall who has grabbed quite a few eyeballs off late. Along with the Hammers, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are also said to be interested, and it is believed that the 20-year-old could move to a new club in January. Currently, Marshall plies his trade in his native country for Cavalier SC.
There must be something special talent in the player as not many big clubs would go after a player who has never played football outside his home country. Jamaica is anyhow not known for producing football talents, but Marshall seems special.
The winger has eight league goals in 33 appearances so far, and his major claim to fame happened when he started representing his national country. Marshall is naturally right footed and likes to play as an inverted winger down the left flank. Manuel Pellegrini added Felipe Anderson in that position, and the Brazilian is starting to show promising signs of late.
Apart from Brazilian winger Anderson, the Hammers don’t have anyone who can be termed as an outright left winger. Marko Arnautovic used to play in that position, but now he has taken up the more central role of leading the line for his team. The East London outfit were relatively active in the summer, and one can expect them to make one or two more acquisitions in January to complete their squad.
Marshall obviously would be raw and he might take some time to get used to the challenges of football at such a high level. It is likely that he would have to grind his time with the reserve team before he can get in contention for a place in the first team.
Jamaica is known to be a land of sprinters, and we might be stereotyping here, but Marshall also shows tremendous pace on the ball. The winger quite easily stands out in his league and scouts in England are thinking that the 20-year-old has immense potential. It’s always good to see players coming in from different backgrounds and countries, and it shows the popularity of football around the globe.
After a tough start to the season, Manuel Pellegrini’s men are finding their feet, and once all the new players start gelling together, the Hammers could be on their way to a top 8 finish given the quality of the players and manager they have. Marshall is a relatively unknown quantity, so there is an element of risk involved in signing him but given that he is so young, maybe the Chilean manager can take a punt on him.
