OPINION
Paul Merson was right to berate West Ham over selling midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate in the summer despite him making a slow start to life at Crystal Palace.
The Sky Sports pundit criticised the Hammers for selling the 6ft 2in tall 28-year-old (Transfermkrt) for the price they did and claimed that Manuel Pellegrini’s side currently lacked a player just like him.
“If there was one player last season that could get around the middle of the park and hurry people up when they didn’t have the ball it was Kouyate, who has gone to Crystal Palace. And he only went for about £8m which is nothing,” said Merson on Monday’s The Debate, as quoted by Sky Sports’ website.
“He was the one person who’d go and engage and try and get the ball back. When you watch them now and they haven’t got the ball they haven’t got anyone who can get around the pitch. They are an easy team to play against at the moment.”
It’s hard to argue with any of Merson’s points as Kouyate would certainly have at least put himself about the pitch in order to give his side the best chance of winning the ball back.
The defensive midfielder may have struggled in his last campaign for the Hammers but it’s clear that the club would have been stronger for keeping him in their squad.
As it stands, especially during the Hammers’ last outing against Wolves, there wasn’t enough players willing to go their extra mile for their side neither were there many midfielders capable of winning the battle for the ball in the middle of the park.
Kouyate previously proved in his 147 appearances for the Hammers that he was capable of aiding their cause especially when his side was put on the back foot.
Given that arguably the summer recruit brought in to replace Kouyate’s defensive presence in midfield was Carlos Sanchez and he was signed on deadline day, then perhaps more should have been done to hold on to the 28-year-old until at least January in order to see how Sanchez settled in.
Kouyate has had a slow start to life at Crystal Palace so far as he has only played 20 minutes of league action for them but that doesn’t mean he won’t soon become an asset for Roy Hodgson’s side.
The midfielder could soon prove his worth to Palace and this will cause everyone to realise the blunder the Hammers made letting Kouyate go when they did and for the price they did.
This means that Merson is right to criticise the Hammers over the summer sale of Kouyate even though he hasn’t set the world alight for Palace as of yet, because clearly he has the tools needed to improve Pellegrini’s current situation.
