West Ham can land their own Riyad Mahrez by signing Emi Buendia
West Ham could find their own Riyad Mahrez if they make a move for Norwich’s Emi Buendia this summer.
The Argentine has been linked with a move to East London by The Mirror [02/01, p72, via PressReader], thanks in part to a brilliant season.
Buendia has been raved about for some time though, with Arsenal first linked to the winger after his debut Premier League season last year [Football.London].
He scored one goal and made seven assists in 2019/20 but failed to stop Norwich from going down.
The attacker could have moved last summer but he stayed, helped his team win the league, and was named Championship player of the year.
He has been absolutely brilliant and we think he would be a perfect signing for David Moyes to make in the next window.
West Ham have had success in signing players from the second tier recently, with Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen both proving their quality at the London Stadium.
Buendia is even better than that pair, as neither lived up to his 14 goals and 16 assists when they were in the Championship.
Not even Mahrez can compare when he spent half of 2013/14 playing for Leicester in the Championship.
The Algerian managed 1.8 key passes that season [WhoScored] compared to Buendia’s 3.2 [WhoScored], while the latter has also managed more successful dribbles per game.
Buendia is only a year older than Mahrez was at the time, and nobody expected the Manchester City star to progress as he has.
There is no doubt Buendia is getting better and better and he could really flourish on the Irons right wing.
The only negative is that we could have to pay £40million for the 24-year-old according to the Daily Mail, and interest from Leeds and Arsenal [Foot Mercato] could prevent a move.
However, we have a good chance of pinching Buendia from under their noses as we might be able to offer him European football.
This is a great chance for GSB to make a big statement, let’s hope they take it.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers have made an approach for a Portuguese striker who could be available for £17.2million.
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