West Ham United failed to carve a season worth remembering in the English top division as they concluded their 2016-17 Premier League campaign with an eleventh-placed finish with merely 45 points. The Hammers struggled to find a strong footing owing to their own self-destructive chaos and faltered like a house of cards time and again.
There have been innumerable testaments of the perception that Slaven Bilic really looked out of ideas more often than not and the sorry state of affairs of the London-based club was seemingly anticipated, particularly after the departure of Dimitri Payet.
Nonetheless, West Ham United would have to regroup and strive towards the fixation of the existing loopholes in their ranks. Finding the back of the net has been a major cause of concern for Bilic in the season which just concluded, which implies that the paramount priority for the Croatian would be to bolster his attacking arsenal.
Reports have emerged that he has put Manchester City’s prodigal sensation, Kelechi Iheanacho, on his wish-list for the summer transfer window and at the onset, it appears as if the deal will thoroughly make sense if it crosses the line.
Iheanacho is a blossoming starlet with exceptional calibre and there exists no shadow of doubt whatsoever on his ability. A youth product of the Citizens, the 20-year-old bagged four goals and registered three assists in 20 outings in the English top flight (mind you, he was handed merely 5 starts) and also accumulated two goals in the Champions League as well in an unproductive campaign for the Manchester-based club.
A striker who has been quick to adapt to the animosity of the game, Iheanacho ticks a lot of boxes of a flamboyant no. 9 and is absolutely the ingredient which Bilic needs to spice up his offensive tactical nous.
The Nigerian wonder kid is a clinical and creative force up front with sheer predatory instincts, which do baffle the opposition. He controls the ball meticulously, times his runs perfectly and thus far, his shrewd dribbling skills have already made him the talk of the town.
Besides, his versatile aptitude of plying his trade on the flanks, as well as a gunman, go hand in hand with raw pace and confidence which he possesses and no wonder his stocks have only seen an upward trajectory ever since he surfaced. Despite being relatively new to the scene, Iheanacho has shown immense maturity and with a move to the capital, he could chisel more game time to prove his mettle week in and week out.
Statistics Credits: WhoScored
