West Ham United have agreed a fee of about £20m to sign Ghana striker Andre Ayew from Swansea City according to BBC Sport. The Hammers have been looking for an accomplished forward throughout the whole summer and after facing disappointments in pursuit of players like Lacazette, Bacca, Batshuayi and so on, Slaven Bilic identified the Swansea City forward as a solution to their goalscoring woes.
Having made the historic move to the Olympic Stadium, West Ham would have been hoping to have a more fruitful summer after an impressive start. They did exactly that by bringing in quality players like Feghouli, Nordtveit and Tore but a thing still missing from the equation was a proven goalscorer. With the new Premier League season set to kick off this weekend, Ayew will give a massive boost to West Ham.
Well, Ayew moving to West Ham is a strange piece to digest as the Hammers could have snapped him up for free last summer from Marseille but did not do it and now they are looking to splash £20m on a position where they are already rich with depth and quality both. Ayew is primarily a winger but can be deployed in a range of positions thanks to his versatility.
Ayew is most likely to be seen as a centre-forward at West Ham. The Ghana international topped Swansea’s scoring charts last season with 12 goals from 34 Premier League games while setting up five for his teammates. Ayew is capable of giving the West Ham attack a whole different dimension to that of Carroll’s. The Englishman is an out and out target man while Ayew, with his pace and mobility, is the perfect fit for West Ham’s counter attacking tactics.
Ayew was used in a number of positions at Swansea last season but he was the most prolific playing as a centre-forward. The 26-year-old spearhead Swansea’s attack in seven games and in the process, Ayew came up with six goals and three assists.
Ayew is comfortable with the ball in his feet and can make his way past tight defense with his dazzling runs. Despite being just 176cm tall, the 26-year-old is quite strong in the air and that is well-reflected from his 1.3 aerial balls won per game. Ayew’s game is perfect for Slaven Bilic’s tactics where the Ghanaian can drift wide to open up space behind the defence.
Even though Ayew is not a proper number nine, he looks destined for success as a forward at West Ham and £20m is a reasonable price for a player of his caliber. Ayew could be an excellent addition to West Ham and the fans will hope to see the magical duo of Ayew and Payet from Marseille reunited once again, be it at the Olympic Stadium.