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Are West Ham dreaming too big with this transfer target?

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According to the Metro, West Ham are said to be among a number of clubs battling it out to sign 22-year-old Real Madrid winger Jesé Rodriguez on-loan for next season. At the time of writing, Rodriguez (who commonly goes by Jesé) is sitting on the bench for Real Madrid during their Champions League tie against Atletico Madrid and West Ham are sitting in ninth place in the Premier League.

The Spanish forward has been at Real Madrid for most of his professional playing career after joining the club’s youth side as a 14-year-old. Injury has vastly blighted his career of late at Madrid, and rumour has it that this talented player may depart Spain on loan to West Ham to get his career back on track.

It’s a deal not too dissimilar to what West Ham did this season with Barcelona’s Alex Song; Jesé is a similarly big deal, and could bring a lot of both power and flare to a West Ham side.

But a rumour like this begs a question – are West Ham not getting a little carried away with themselves here? Sure, the Hammers currently have a Barcelona player on loan – but is it not a little over ambitious to bank on being able to field Champions League players after a season that will almost certainly end with West Ham not earning a European place?

It’s not to say we’re not good enough to attract European players – but our strengths don’t tend to come from big name or big money signings. Andy Carroll, our main marquee signing, is certainly talented – but his injuries have hampered his career, whereas other more initially subtle signings have been far more valuable in terms of both finance and return on investment.

West Ham have done better over the past few years with players who haven’t already made names for themselves in English and European football and stayed remarkably under the radar – in particular, I refer to Aaron Cresswell, Diafra Sakho, Cheikhou Kouyate and Adrian San Miguel. In some ways we’re the hipsters of the Premier League, scooping up players before they become well-known names, and I wonder if that is the strength we should play to rather than chasing around the benches of the big European clubs.

It’s not to say the loan signing of Song isn’t a bad one, and that signing Jesé wouldn’t be impressive – but perhaps we should focus more on stability and our future rather than aiming for a bigger name for a short period of time.

What do you make of West Ham’s link to Jesé? Are we getting a bit ahead of ourselves here, or should we be pushing for bigger names to elevate our club in the league? Let us know below.

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