FIVE potential replacements for Diame

The man mountain Mohamed Diame is out for anywhere between 3 weeks to 3 months and this leaves a hole in our midfield which needs to be filled fairly soon if we are to continue the great form which currently has us in 11th place and keeps us in touch with the ‘big teams’.

No disrespect to James Tomkins, Gary O’Neil or any other West Ham players but I’m not sure that we have the necessary replacement within our ranks and with the January transfer window fast approaching we could go into the market to find a replacement which could help to fill the massive void left by Mo. Here are 5 players that I feel could help to cover Diame while he is out.

Jack Rodwell- You may wonder why I have Rodwell in my list after his poor performances since he went to Manchester City but I feel that he could just be out of place among players costing around £30 million or even more and his performances in an Everton shirt over the years are enough to convince me that he would be worth getting on a short term loan. He has power in abundance, pace and he can put in a good tackle. It could be a risk because of his City performances but I feel that he could sit in next to Noble and make our midfield very hard to break down.

Adam Lallana- Lallana is known as an attacking player but he is very versatile and could play a more defensive role while Diame is out, he is a very hard working player and has played a midfield role in the Premiership, Championship and League 1 so he must have some steel in his game. One of the main benefits of bringing in Lallana in would be that he could be moved forward after Diame comes back from injury while still being able to fulfil a more defensive job. It could be hard to get him away from Southampton but he is a very good player technically while also having a very high work rate level I feel he is a player who could easily slot into West Ham’s way of playing.

James McCarthy- McCarthy is a man who is in great demand throughout the Premier League and I feel that he is a player that West Ham could do with in the middle of the park. He is a good old-fashioned midfielder with a bit of flair added into his game which could only benefit us. When Diame comes back from injury I also feel that his no nonsense style will complement Diame’s power and pace in the midfield.  It may be hard to obtain his services because of the number of teams who would be after him in January but he could be a man who allows people to play and he could be the sort of man who could help other players to fulfil their potential in an attacking sense and slot into Allardyce’s way of thinking well.

 

Gael Bigirimana- This would probably be the least available of my five but I feel that if we could sign Bigirimana from Newcastle then it would be a great move for the Hammers. He is a young player who has a great tackle, a good range of passing and has shown he also has an eye for goal and a move to West Ham would help him to develop as a player. This may seem like a move for the future but I feel he has the credentials to start making an impact for us now and if we were to sign him he would make as good cover for Diame because of his style. There would be a lot of hard work involved in obtaining his services but I feel that because of his style and room for further development he would make very good cover for Diame and he could make further impact even when Mo is back in the side.

Barry Bannan- The last man on my list Barry Bannan is another young player who I feel could develop if he moves from Aston Villa to West Ham, he may not be a very tough tackling player but his technique is sublime and there is still time for it to improve. He is the sort of player who could play alongside Noble very well and with the pair in the middle of the park I feel that many attractive yet affective attacks could be started which would hopefully result in more goal scoring from our strikers. He may not be the toughest person in the world but I feel that he could definitely hold his own in the midfield and could be very effective for West Ham.

So there it is, my five players who could come in during Diame’s absence (or potential sale) and who could benefit the club in many different ways. Rodwell and Bigirimana adding bite to the midfield, McCarthy and Bannan two men who could do very well at moving West Ham from defence to attack and Lallana a player who has plenty of versatility. I have tried to put some variation in my list so it depends on what you feel is needed to who you would feel is best suited to covering for Mo.