Slaven Bilic seems to have made it a norm to pick out players that people don’t know about and make them into superstars at West Ham United. We saw the likes of Enner Valencia and even Angelo Ogbonna do well at the club and it seems the Croatian is ready to bring in another unknown player in hopes of him making it big next season in the Premier League.
Not many would know about Alan Hutchinson, the 33-year-old defensive midfielder currently plays for Turkish side Besiktas and has been impressive for them. The Canadian seems to be a player that Bilic wants at the club next season and it would be a bit of a surprise if he does sign him up considering his age.
The Canadian did play 41 games in total last season for his club and also had a couple of goals for the club. The defender was born in Brampton, Ontario and began his professional playing career in 2002. His first big break came in January 2003 as he was signed by Osters IF in the Swedish Allsvenskan.
He had multiple moves to other clubs within Scandinavia and played for Helsingborg, FC Copenhagen, and PSV and then finally moved to Besiktas in 2013. The midfielder has won multiple honours as well which include the Danish Superliga, Danish Cup, the KNVB Cup and also the Turkish Super league.
Hutchinson is considered as one of the best players ever to have represented Canada and has won the Canadian player of the year award four times in his career, the last one coming in 2015. He also won the player of the year award in Denmark in the 2009-10 season. The 33-year-old was also named in the all-time Canada XI men’s team in 2012 by the Canadian Soccer Association.
The midfielder is known for his passing, which is one of his greatest assists. Hutchinson is also known for his interception skills, which should come as no surprise seeing as to how he does cover a lot of distance on the pitch and it has to be strong especially due to his weaknesses.
The 33-year-old doesn’t have the greatest ability to win tackles and that would be a huge problem if he is to play in the Premier League. The Canadian also isn’t the best at winning headers and again that cannot be worked on since he already is at the fag end of his career.
His short passing skills would be a great option for West Ham United and would work well in tandem with someone like Mark Noble, who is tenacious in the midfield and maybe this Canadian could do a great job for a season or two but his age is the limiting factor and it would be a surprise if Bilic does bring him to the club at this stage of his career.