WHZ view: West Ham move for Nketiah could be as disastrous as Albian Ajeti signing
West Ham have a very important decision to make this month in replacing Sebastien Haller.
The Hammers’ record signing brought an end to his disappointing spell in East London with a £22.5million move to Ajax this week.
Now David Moyes has to bring in a new striker, as he cannot rely on Michail Antonio alone for the rest of the campaign.
According to the Evening Standard, the club’s focus is on bringing in Arsenal frontman Eddie Nketiah.
The 21-year-old has a lot of promise and West Ham are right to search for a long-term option.
In this case, though, Nketiah is not the answer.
The main reason for that is Moyes’ style of play, utilising a lone striker who is often isolated, particularly against better opposition.
Nketiah has experienced similar troubles at the Emirates, and unlike players like Michail Antonio or Marko Arnautovic, he is unable to create opportunities for himself.
In that regard, he is more similar to Albian Ajeti, who is by all accounts a failed Irons signing.
In important areas Nketiah is very similar to Ajeti, including successful dribbles, key passes and shots per game.
Per WhoScored, the striker’s career return of 0.3 dribbles per game shows he could struggle to lead the line by himself – much like Ajeti did at the London stadium.
To compare the two the Swiss has managed just 0.2 dribbles per game, a far cry from Antonio’s 2.2 or Arnautovic’s 1.3.
That wouldn’t be so much of a problem if Moyes’ side created multiple opportunities for the attackers, but they don’t.
The fact Pablo Fornals has produced the most big chances with five underlines that, and it could lead to Nketiah replicating his underwhelming return of 1.1 shots per game.
Again, he falls short of Antonio’s 2.6, while the West Ham forward has also produced an average of one key pass per game to Nketiah’s 0.3.
From the stats above it is clear that the England U21 international has little to bring to West Ham currently.
Combined with the fact that he could come with a hefty price tag, it is vital Moyes and those responsible for recruitment widen their search further.
Otherwise, the Scot would have to change his style considerably and become a lot more expansive, and that would be a mistake since the team has been so effective this season.
In other West Ham news, Frank McAvennie casts doubt on move for big-name player.