Maxwel Cornet on road to West Ham redemption after display v Sheffield United, Rio Ferdinand loved what he did
Maxwel Cornet could be on the road to redemption at West Ham following his performance against Sheffield United on Sunday (21 January).
The Ivory Coast international scored his first goal for the Hammers in the first half against the Blades as he handed his side the lead.
The fact it’s taken the best part of 18 months for that to arrive since his £17.5million move from Burnley in August 2022 shows how disappointing the 27-year-old’s spell at the London Stadium has been.
The winger arrived on the back of a promising campaign with the Clarets, having scored nine goals in 26 Premier League games at Turf Moor before his side were relegated to the Championship.
While there were hopes he could come in and provide a threat right across the forward line, but he suffered a calf injury just weeks into his time at the club that would keep him out of action for almost five months.
Cornet made a few appearances towards the back end of the campaign, but he struggled to recapture the form of his time in Lancashire the previous year.
It’s been equally as frustrating for him this season, with the Ivorian dropping further down the pecking order following the summer arrival of Mohammed Kudus from Ajax.
The 23-year-old’s stunning displays alongside Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta have left very little opportunity for anyone else to impress, with Cornet making just 10 appearances this season.
Before being handed a start against Sheffield United, he’d only played one minute of football in the Premier League during this campaign, which came off the bench against Bournemouth on the opening day.
Despite having a difficult start to the game, the winger took his opportunity superbly to hand the Hammers the lead on 28 minutes, with his celebration showing the relief at getting off the mark.
Speaking in the studo on TNT Sports at half-time (02:53pm), Rio Ferdinand was impressed by the Irons’ build-up play to the opener and how Cornet took his chance.
“The one real bit of quality that came up was from West Ham,” said the pundit. “It was a beautiful bit of football. I’m sure this is what they’ve been working on on the training ground.
“The ball comes to Coufal, lovely cutback there, which eliminates a lot of the defenders, what a finish [from Cornet].”
That could be just the boost of confidence Cornet needs to really get his time at West Ham back on track as more opportunities could be set to come his way in the second half of the campaign.
With Kudus still away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana, Said Benrahma suspended and Michail Antonio and Paqueta out injured, those chances are likely to come in the next few weeks.
If he can get himself going and put in some strong performances, then that would be a real boost to David Moyes over the next few months as we look to forge another successful campaign.
In other West Ham news, Dharmesh Sheth has shared the transfer stance of a player the Hammers want to sign.
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