West Ham United missed out on signing Gary Medel in January but according to the recent reports from Football. London, the Hammers are going to get a boost for signing him in the summer as the midfielder now regrets not moving to East London in January. The Chilean international currently plies his trade for Turkish giants Besiktas.
Manuel Pellegrini also recently opened up about his targets in the January window and confirmed that the club was looking to recruit Medel. He was quoted as saying, ”The only player we had interest in was Gary Medel, they told us it was free, and we were interested because he can play in two or three positions. They told us he was free but then it turned out the player was not free.”
One can understand why Pellegrini was after a defensive midfielder as the likes of Jack Wilshere and Carlos Sanchez are on the treatment table, and the manager doesn’t have too much room to manoeuvre in the midfield department. Injuries though gave Declan Rice a chance to play as a defensive midfielder even though he is traditionally a centre back and Rice has thrived in that role.
Medel would have been a handy addition for the Hammers given the amount of experience he has had in his footballing career so far. The 31-year-old even had a brief stint in England where he played for Cardiff City for one season. In Chile, the midfielder is known as a stalwart of the game and has represented his national side 114 times so far.
As Pellegrini mentioned, Medel’s versatility would have come in handy as he can play as a defensive midfielder, as a centre back and even as a right back when required. The Hammers can have a second bite at the cherry now in the summer as reports now state that Medel is unhappy that he missed out on the opportunity of playing in the Premier League.
However, the club might look at a more younger option in the summer instead of going back for Medel. Signing a player in January is never easy as no clubs want to let their first team players leave in between an ongoing season. Therefore the club should target a more prominent and long term option in the summer.
The Hammers had already signed Carlos Sanchez last summer, and he too is in a similar mould as Medel. The Colombian should be fit by the time the next season arrives so we feel the Hammers might not go after Medel again in the summer.
