Rumours have been circulating today, and in the past few days that West Ham are considering tabling a bid for Newcastle winger Andros Townsend.
The Telegraph have reported that we are rivalling Southampton for the ex Tottenham player for what could be a cut price £8 million if Newcastle are relegated in the next few weeks.
So would West Ham fans welcome Townsend at The Olympic Stadium next season?
There are a lot of positives about the potential deal:
Townsend would be available at almost half the price that Newcastle paid for him this season because of a clause in his contract. £14 million seemed steep for him, but at £8 million for a player who is Premier League proven, that isn’t a bad price.
He is also currently in hot form, and could be up for PFA player of the month for April. His run of form has coincided with Newcastle’s, and he is one of the main reasons that they aren’t quite relegated yet. His free kick last weekend was one that Payet would be proud of, and there aren’t many better right sided midfielders at the moment in the league.
Townsend has also performed well on the International stage, with 3 goals including an equaliser against Italy. Still only 25, he still has a long way to go in his career, despite it feeling like he’s been around for ages.
Now to the negatives of signing Townsend:
Firstly, and probably most importantly, he is ex Spurs. This could be a tricky situation for fans who have booed him for the past 5 years.
West Ham may not be high on Townsend’s list of priorities either due to past abuse. However, we are doing better than Southampton, and he wouldn’t get any better offers than us, so there is potential.
Townsend is a bit of a one trick pony at times and he was sold by Pochettino because of this. Cut inside and shoot can be lethal, but when the opposition suss you out, it doesn’t cause quite so many problems. Townsend looks like he is changing his game recently, and would need to improve further if he wanted to nail down a starting spot for West Ham.
The other negative is that we already have Michail Antonio on the right. Townsend is a right sided midfielder, he doesn’t really play anywhere else, because he loves to cut inside. That could mean a lot of time spent on the bench. While he would be a useful addition to our squad, he probably wouldn’t be content sitting on the bench every week, considering he left Spurs for the same reason. He is seeking playing time, and may get more guarantees of that at Southampton than he would under Slaven Bilic’s management.
Verdict:
If he is willing to work hard to try and earn a starting spot, for £8 million it could be worth a punt. But there are other alternatives, and Gold and Sullivan know where to look to find value. I don’t see Townsend coming to West Ham next season, but it wouldn’t be the worst move the club could make.
Do you think we should try and secure Townsend’s services for next season?
