West Ham midfielder Pedro Obiang will likely miss Saturday’s game at Leicester City, according to reliable Hammers insider ExWHUemployee.
The Spaniard, on a reported £55,000-per-week at the London Stadium [Source: Spotrac], was absent from last week’s 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, and is not expected to return to the starting line up for the clash with Claude Puel’s Foxes.
“Obiang hasn’t resumed training yet,” ExWHUemployee said on the West Ham Way podcast [31:16]. “He’s picked up a calf injury which he had in training before the Spurs game.
“He hasn’t resumed training yet so the chances are he’s going to be out for the Leicester game this weekend,” he finished.
OPINION
This is a big blow for Manuel Pellegrini. The Hammers already have a few injuries in central midfield, with Jack Wilshere and Carlos Sanchez both sidelined, so to have Obiang unavailable as well is not good in the slightest. The former Sampdoria man has produced some of the best football of his West Ham career in recent weeks, forming a terrific midfield trio with Mark Noble and Declan Rice. His energy will be missed if he does in fact miss the Leicester clash. It will be interesting to see whether Pellegrini now sticks with the 4-1-4-1 formation he employed against Spurs, with Noble playing further forward and Rice in a more defensive role. The Chilean would surely have preferred Obiang to be available, though, so that he could continue with the 4-3-3 setup that he had employed to good effect over the last month or so.
