Nuno Espirito Santo could land Chris Wood equivalent at West Ham amid loan development
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo needs new signings in January.
Nuno has overseen three games with the claret and blue outfit so far, with the most recent being a 2-0 West Ham defeat against Brentford.
The London Stadium faithful are behind the Portuguese head coach, but Nuno did come under fire from West Ham fans after the latest defeat.
As West Ham fans protested in East London, there was very little positivity surrounding the Hammers in forward areas.
The Irons could look to change this in January, potentially by adding someone like Chris Wood for Nuno to work with.
Joshua Zirkzee could sign for West Ham in January
West Ham have shown interest in Zirkzee as Manchester United look to part ways with the man who joined them last summer from Bologna.
The Netherlands international is a physical presence and was seen by some as a strange addition given his playing profile.
Things haven’t truly worked out for the 24-year-old at Old Trafford after failing to nail down a spot as a starting regular under either Erik ten Hag or Ruben Amorim.
Zirkzee has featured across just 74 Premier League minutes this season, so a winter exit would make sense for all parties.
The Hammers could step in and take the Dutchman on loan for the rest of the campaign and work under Nuno.
As a physical presence, he could prove to be exactly what the Irons boss is looking for after leaving Nottingham Forest.
How does Zirkzee compare to Chris Wood?
The New Zealand international was sensational last season as he became a regular goalscorer at Premier League level.
He had previously scored 14 in his best league campaign with Burnley, but managed 20 in Red at the City Ground last time around.
The 33-year-old was reborn under Nuno, and there was hope that Niclas Fullkrug could fulfil that role in East London, but his injury issues have scuppered that idea.
Zirkzee could come in and play a similar role to Wood, moulding his game to become the number nine the ex-Wolves boss wants.
The United forward did show some qualities in his first Premier League season that point towards that being totally possible.
He completed 18.88 passes with 72.1 per cent accuracy throughout the campaign, creating 0.78 chances for his teammates on average.
This was all while taking 1.81 shots of his own, despite only getting on the scoresheet three times for the Red Devils.
Nuno will be pleased to see that he took 41.64 touches and won 3.81 duels, proving he has the ability and strength to perform at the top level.
Some of these statistics mirror Wood’s 2.06 shots and 3.87 duels in particular, while Zirkzee has outperformed him in shots (2.06), touches (25.01), and passes (9.50).
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