OPINION
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has two big headaches keeping him up at night at the moment: Andriy Yarmolenko’s injury and a lack of talent at left back.
The BBC reported that the Ukraine international was ruled out for six months after he went down injured against Tottenham on Saturday.
On the other hand, the Hammers boss brought Aaron Cresswell back in for Arthur Masuaku against Spurs, but the Englishman failed to impress any more than the DR Congo international has at left back this season.
Luckily for the Chilean he can solve both problems with a move for one player – Manchester United utility man Ashley Young would be ideal as a Swiss army knife type of player at the London Stadium.
The former England international’s contract, worth a reported £110,000-per-week at Old Trafford [Source: Spotrac], will come to an end at the end of this season.
The 33-year-old’s age means that it wouldn’t cost much for West Ham to bag him on a cut price deal in January. Indeed, Transfermarkt currency values him at just £6.2million.
That’s spare change to a Premier League side like the Hammers, and would certainly be worth filling two problem positions at the club.
At this moment in time there is no high level alternative to Yarmolenko present in the squad. Youngster Grady Diangana has potential, but you don’t want to put too much pressure on the 20-year-old too early, while veterans Michail Antonio and Robert Snodgrass are solid but unspectacular players.
Young, on the other hand, is an extremely talented winger who has seen his creative tendencies restricted by United boss Jose Mourinho in recent years.
He would provide pace, trickery and exceptional delivery on the right hand side for West Ham, while his winning mentality would be valuable for Pellegrini’s side.
Plus, if Pellegrini doesn’t want to spend money on a new left back in January, Young can fill in there too. Perhaps Diangana makes the right wing slot his own; then Young is ready to solve Pellegrini’s full back problems instead.
The United man would be a perfect bargain basement signing for a club that needs quality in specific positions. There is no doubt that a move for Young would represent the Hammers killing two birds with one stone.
