Soler gives Lopetegui big decision after what he did for West Ham v Bournemouth

Carlos Soler continued to give Julen Lopetegui a headache over whether he is worth signing for West Ham United on a permanent basis with his display against Bournemouth.

The Spaniard joined the club on a season-long loan deal from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer and had a somewhat slow start to life in East London.

However, game time for the midfielder has increased of late and it seems as though he has got on the right side of Lopetegui.

The Hammers hold the choice over whether to make the deal permanent at the end of the campaign.

However, Soler’s performance in West Ham’s game against Bournemouth gives the boss more to ponder about the players’ future.

Carlos Soler doing enough for permanent West Ham move?

West Ham came away from Bournemouth with a point on Monday [17 December] after their opponents scored a 90th-minute free-kick to level the scores.

Soler was not on the pitch by the time of either goal, though, as he was substituted off in the 56th minute following an unconvincing performance.

Throughout his time on the pitch, the midfielder created one chance, touching the ball in the opposition box once and only passing into the final third four times, according to FotMob.

London Stadium, West Ham
Credit: Imago

Furthermore, the 27-year-old had just 44 touches of the ball and his yellow card left his manager with little choice but to withdraw him from action.

This shows that there is plenty of work still to be done by the Spaniard to convince the club that he is worth acquiring on a full-time basis.

Of course, with the speculation over the manager’s future at the London Stadium, things could change without Soler’s performances having an impact.

However, at this moment, he needs to be more convincing on a consistent basis if he is going to make the club jump at the opportunity to make him a full-time Hammer next summer.

In other West Ham news, the Hammers’ top transfer target has been identified after an approach for Evan Ferguson.

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