Why West Ham Would Be Wrong To Sign This Bournemouth Winger When Options Are Available Within The Club

West Ham United did extremely well last season under Slaven Bilic securing a spot in the Europa League qualifying round. The Hammers will move into the Olympic stadium next season which will see an automatic increase in the revenue of the team. All the extra revenue from the new stadium along with the new TV deal, will allow Bilic to splash some cash on players who can strengthen his squad and improve the quality of the team. He is keen to add to his squad this summer, and has already signed Havard Nordveit and Sofiane Feghouli on free transfers.

West Ham are reportedly planning to launch another £8m bid for Bournemouth winger Matt Ritchie after their initial offer was rejected. Ritchie enjoyed a superb season for Bournemouth, scoring four goals and has been instrumental in helping the club secure survival in their first season in the Premier League. The 26-year-old, who joined Bournemouth from Swindon Town in 2013, has established himself as a key member of Eddie Howe’s side and is now also a Scotland international. However one still isn’t sure whether it will be wise to bring the Scottish winger to West Ham, especially given the presence of Michail Antonio in the squad and the recent accusation of Feghouli, both of who are right-sided wingers like Ritchie himself.

Antonio did extremely well for the Hammers last season, with his blistering pace and power, he proved to be a constant threat for defenders across the league. Feghouli on the other hand is blessed with immense technical and creative ability and brings lots of experience to the London team. Therefore we see that though the two are much different to each other, they still give enough options for Bilic to compete strongly in the Premier League and the Europa League at the same time. Ritchie is also a right side winger, who can major threat on the flanks with his blistering pace and a killer left foot. He also provides an option of a superb free kick taker and has the ability to pick a pass from very tight space, however given his attributes he would struggle a lot if deployed on the left wing, which is also the case with the other two wingers in the team.

Having a number of options in one position is always the best scenario for the manager but given that he only has Lanzini and Payer for the central number 10 role and the left wing, Bilic will be sensible in spending money on someone who can also contribute from the left wing. With ample amounts of experience, Feghouli should start in the starting XI, which would leave Antonio and Ritchie fighting for a spot on the bench. The Scot was very impressive last season but a move to the Olympic Stadium might just put breaks on his development, since one can’t see him getting much playing time under Bilic.