Report: West Ham battling Italian giants for Almendra
West Ham United made some positive steps towards fixing their central midfield issues in January with the signing of Tomas Soucek.
The 24-year-old arrived at the London Stadium on a loan deal with an option to buy and, as long as the Hammers stay in the Premier League, you’d assume he signs permanently.
The addition of the Czech Republic international has helped a great deal, but there’s still a distinct lack of depth in the middle of the park.
Declan Rice, Mark Noble and Soucek are there and ready to go, but there’s very little beyond that trio.
It seems that the club agree, because Italian outlet Tutto Mercato reported on Thursday that the east London outfit are chasing a deal for Boca Juniors midfielder Agustin Almendra.
The 20-year-old is looking to leave the Argentine giants because he’s not been playing as often this campaign.
However, both Napoli and Roma are also in the hunt, while his price tag has gone down significantly in recent months.
Would Almendra be a good addition?
It’s hard to say, because he’s such a new face and hasn’t even played that many games for Boca, let alone a league comparable to the Premier League.
You have to wonder, though, whether the Hammers even need a new central midfielder. As mentioned, they already have Rice, Noble and Soucek.
Beyond that, from next season on, there’ll be Josh Cullen and Conor Coventry to back that first choice trio up.
Almendra is still young and unproven at the highest level, so why not just roll with two of the club’s homegrown young stars instead?
In other West Ham news, a young Hammers loan star put in an impressive performance on Tuesday night.