Shamanth Jayaram
West Ham opinion: West Ham should sign Alfred Duncan
After a horrendous start to the season, West Ham United have turned it around and are currently placed 9th in the Premier League, just 5 points off of 7th placed Wolves.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side
An area that the former Manchester City manager should address in the summer is the central midfield.
Mark Noble and Carlos Sanchez will be well into their 30’s this summer and Jack Wilshere, as talented as he is, is an unreliable player due to his injuries. Pedro Obiang has shown glimpses of brilliance at times but hasn’t been consistent enough.
This leaves West Ham with just Declan Rice, the 20-year-old who recently changed his allegiance to England after a brilliant season so far. Rice has been outstanding in central midfield and his performances have played a huge part in West Ham’s wins this season.
West Ham
Having started his career in Inter Milan as an 18-year-old before making his first-team debut at the age of 20, the Ghanaian failed to break into Jose Mourinho’s side and was sent out on loan to the likes of Livorno and Sampdoria before joining the latter on a permanent deal in 2015.
He joined Sassuolo immediately on loan and signed on a permanent basis a year later.
An accurate way to describe Duncan’s would be to say that he is a midfielder who is strong, powerful, graceful and elegant in his play. Very similar to someone like a Blaise Matuidi but a lot faster than the Frenchman, Duncan has proved his ability at Sassuolo over the last three years.
The Ghanaian has a brilliant eye for a pass and uses his gifted left boot to put teammates through. The 25-year old uses his pace and control over the ball to drive through the midfield and is a terror for the opposition with his accurate shots from distance.
Duncan is also an astute tackler and his ball recoveries without conceding a foul are of the highest order. Despite being just 5ft 11in, Duncan specialises in breaking up the play either through his interceptions or by using his brute strength.
Duncan has scored 3 goals and has 4 assists so far in the Serie A this season. The Ghanaian averages 1.2 shots at goal, 1.2 key passes per game and 1.5 long passes per game this season.
Conclusion
His addition to the West Ham midfield will take the Hammers to the next level and his driving runs into the final third is sure to benefit the likes of Felipe Anderson and Marko Arnautovic.
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Manuel Pellegrini should not think twice about Duncan’s quality and make a move for the 25-year old in the summer.
