Manuel Pellegrini will offer a West Ham lifeline to attacker Robert Snodgrass, according to Football London.
The Trinity Mirror site claim the new Hammers manager is keen to give a second chance to winger Snodgrass after a successful season on loan at Aston Villa.
The Scotland international was criticised by managing director Karren Brady after he struggled to make an impact following his £10.2million move from Hull City in January of last year before he joined Villa.
Writing in the Sun newspaper last December about January signing plans, Brady said: “Robert Snodgrass wasn’t exactly a triumph, while Hammers fans could name several foreign players who added little.
“The obvious fact is we need one or two who the manager believes will be a real plus. But no bargains that fall apart under the Prem’s pressure.”
OPINION
Pellegrini is a considerably better judge of a footballer than Brady, or her partners in boardroom chaos, David Sullivan and David Gold. Quite why they were so publicly critical last season of Snodgrass, a fine player who is still on their books and a bankable asset, is a mystery and symptomatic of their appalling lack of discretion. There isn’t a Championship club out there – and a few Premier League ones, too – who wouldn’t bite the two Davids’ hands off if there was a sniff of landing Snodgrass for a bargain fee. He showed at Villa that he remains a winger of class and potency, whose crossing and dead-ball expertise is on a completely different level to most players in the English second tier. Little wonder Pellegrini is keen to have a good look at the Scot in pre-season, although it might require all the Chilean’s famed charm to get Snodgrass back on board after the appalling comments of Brady and co.
