West Ham’s search for a striker seems to have hit rough waters. They were in the lead to sign Michy Batshuayi before Chelsea took him in and the side have not been able to bring in other stars as well in the off-season.
One player who is being linked with a move to the London club is Manolo Gabbiadini from the Serie A. The 24-year-old Napoli star can play as a winger or as a forward but he is looking for a new challenge given that he started just four games for the Italian club last season.
West Ham have had a history of bringing in players that are unknown quantities and doing well in the Premier League. We have seen that under Slaven Bilic last season and the prospect of playing proper European football with the Europa League group stages beckoning is something the club would want to deal with as quickly as possible.
It was rumoured that Stoke City had a bid of £20 million rejected for the Serie A player but more importantly for West Ham would be to see if Gabbiadini can actually do well at the club. West Ham did get an impressive deal out of Angelo Ogbonna of Juventus and the defender did grow into his role at the club last season but Gabbiadini is a different prospect.
Not playing regularly or starting regularly is an issue for any footballer and Gabbiadini had to deal with that a lot last season but given that Gonzalo Higuain has now joined Juventus, Napoli might want to keep the services of the hit man.
Gabbiadini has only scored 20 goals in 60 appearances for the club in two years and while that might not be good enough for many, in Italy that is not a bad return and the fact that he came off the bench in a number of games also helps.
The 24-year-old can play as a centre-forward or even as a winger but he does have a few traits which would make him a great signing for West Ham. Slaven Bilic likes to play a good counter-attacking game at times but most of his attacks come via Dimitri Payet. While the Frenchman is at the heart of the attack, they need someone to knock them in, especially due to the crosses that are pinned in by the team.
Gabbiadini is excellent in that aspect; he probably is one of the best headers of the ball and is great in the air as well. The striker is also a threat from outside the box as he does have a fierce shot in him and can take free kicks as well but that must be reserved for Dimitri Payet.
The only issue we see about Gabbiadini is that he has never played in a league that is as intense as the Premier League and we haven’t seen a lot of top Italian strikers make it big in the league as well, apart from a certain legend like Gianfranco Zola.
West Ham might be taking a punt with this signing but it could turn out good for them, after all, there haven’t been too many misses from Bilic so far in his short but eventful Hammers managerial career.