West Ham United: Journalist makes Divin Mubama admission as Danny Ings verdict shared
Roshane Thomas believes it could be time for West Ham to make Divin Mubama the second-choice striker ahead of Danny Ings.
Writing on The Athletic website on Wednesday (4 October), the journalist said the signing of 31-year-old Ings hasn’t worked and that he could be stalling the development of 18-year-old Mubama.
He believes the former England international is no longer a “viable alternative” to Michail Antonio, meaning it could be time for David Moyes to propel the teenager up into the role of second-choice forward at the London Stadium.
“Since joining West Ham in January for £15million from Aston Villa, the former England international has registered three goals in 29 appearances,” said Thomas. “It is now 174 days since he last scored. It is a signing that has not worked, that may never work and could stall the development of homegrown fellow striker Divin Mubama.
“At the point Ings left Villa, he was their top scorer for that season with six goals. There was encouragement within weeks when he scored twice for his new club in a 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest. It was Ings’ fourth West Ham appearance, and the compliments followed.
“But Ings hasn’t scored in the Premier League since that day. He has struggled to fit into Moyes’ 4-2-3-1 system and no longer seems a viable alternative to Antonio.
“It has not been the signing many at West Ham had hoped – and Ings’ performance against Lincoln highlighted why it might be time to turn to Mubama.”
Deserves a chance
It has been an utterly miserable time for Ings since he made the move to West Ham in January and there has been nothing to suggest he’s going to turn things around.
He is the kind of player that likes to sniff out chances in the box, rather than do the dirty work that Moyes expects from his forwards outside of the area.
The striker hasn’t had too many opportunities to prove himself in the Premier League, but he failed to have any impact when he started the recent games against Backa Topola in the Europa League and Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup.
That means it’s surely time to give Mubama a chance to prove his worth after he has shown great promise for the youth sides and looked bright in pre-season for the first team.
There was an expectation that his minutes would increase this season and now could be the perfect time to ensure that happens with his fellow striker struggling to find any form.
In other West Ham news, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer have raved about one Hammers man.