West Ham United had a brilliant last season under Slaven Bilic, which resulted in them finishing seventh in the table and qualifying for the Europa League. West Ham have already started their transfer activity, with two incredibly shrewd deals already done which saw Sofiane Feghouli and Havard Nordtveit arriving at the Olympic Stadium. The manager brought in Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini last summer, which proved to be a master move as the duo significantly improved the quality of the squad. Similar signings need to be made in the next two months, if The Hammers are going to develop on this excellent base.
West Ham have been heavily linked Dynamo Zagreb player Ante Coric recently. The 19-year-old has been attracting plenty of suitors in the form of Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Manchester City in recent past. Bilic, is believed to have already spoken to representatives of Coric to stake his interest in the midfielder who hit four goals and five assists in the Croatian Premier League. Though He’s under contract until 2020, but Zagreb would be willing to listen to offers for Coric providing clubs stump up £10m for the teenager, who has already made 80 appearances in all competitions for his side.
Coric is touted to be the next big thing in Croatian football and has already made plenty of headlines in his country. He was part of the Croatian team in the ongoing Euro 2016. His recent performances have soon that he is ready for promotion to a bigger league and Premier league is always a bug attraction for foreign players.
The Hammers already have Lanzini and Payet as the creative force in the team but Coric’s arrival will definitely increase the quality of West Ham’s attacking unit. The youngster has a brilliant close control, which helps him dribble past opponents at will. The youngster has often been compared with Luka Modric, who is amongst the best midfielders in the game. He will add a lot of creativity to the West Ham midfield. It will be difficult in the beginning adjusting to the pace of the League, given the difference between the quality between Croatian League and the Premier League. Given that there are players senior to him, he might spend some time on the bench but that will help to coach ease him into the first team.
If he does move to London to join West Ham, he will have an opportunity to work under his countryman, who once used to manage the Croatian national team. He will be a brilliant signing and the one, if given a proper environment, will flourish for many years to come.
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