Edson Alvarez to turn West Ham season around after Chelsea transfer twist
West Ham United will look to get the best out of Edson Alvarez following a difficult season so far after missing out on Carney Chukwuemeka.
Alvarez’s performances have often been sub-par this season and he has struggled with his discipline but has noticed a marked improvement since Graham Potter’s arrival last month.
Chukwuemeka was heavily linked with a switch to the London Stadium from Chelsea, but is now set to fly to Germany to undergo medical tests with Borussia Dortmund (Florian Plettenberg, 2 February) and complete a loan deal to the Bundesliga.
Potter essentially has a free hit in the remaining months of the campaign to prepare for next season in the Premier League, let his squad enjoy their football again and experiment with fresh ideas.
West Ham fail on Chukwuemeka, Alvarez chance ready
Of course, Chukwuemeka and Alvarez are different types of midfielders – but the Hammers tend to be rather fluid with their central players.
Alvarez, Carlos Soler and Tomas Soucek are pretty interchangeable, able to contribute both defensively and going forward, as Potter’s former player Chukwuemeka can despite specialising far more in attack and even out wide.
With Jarrod Bowen coming back into the fold, Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus available as well as Crysencio Summerville and the cast aside Luis Guilherme, it was always going to be unlikely Chukwuemeka would get playing time on the flanks.
But Potter must move on regardless however he was planning to use the Dortmund-bound 21-year-old and make use of the talent he has, while the directors monitor the final 24 hours of the market.
The head coach himself will be busy navigating the test of his former club Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (3 February), looking to nab a surprise result.
In other West Ham news, Evan Ferguson is very close to becoming a claret and blue player.
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