OPINION
Manuel Pellegrini must sign Brazilian midfielder Thiago Maia from Lille in January as he would blossom at West Ham.
The 21-year-old defensive midfielder has previously been able to only show promising glimpses of his talent rather than regularly delivering the goods.
Maia hasn’t been helped from being moved around midfield, he played a more attacking role at Lille in his 2017/18 season and hasn’t been a guaranteed name on their teamsheet during the current campaign.
The Brazilian midfielder has played nine times this season but has been allowed to only complete 90 minutes on three occasions.
Maia is a fabulous reader of the game as he anticipates his opponent’s next move, a quality passer of the ball and more importantly is very strong in the challenge which sees him be a steely presence for whatever side he is featuring for.
Given these attributes, the midfielder is clearly capable of being a force for a team but at Lille that currently isn’t the case.
Pellegrini has already shown his ability to nurture a defensive midfielder’s talent as under his guidance Declan Rice has excelled in that role after previously regularly playing as centre-back.
So when you consider that Maia is already familiar with the position of defensive midfielder then the Hammers could recruit him and watch him blossom into the player his potential suggests he can be.
The London club were previously reported by The Sun as being set to sign the 21-year-old in the summer in a £20million deal, however that ended up not being the case.
Yet signing Maia would have been an excellent acquisition, especially in hindsight when you consider the Hammers’ lack of midfielders, and that should see them return in January.
While The Sun also shared that the player has a release clause in excess of £50million in his contract the report did reveal that Lille, at least in the summer, were willing to sell him for over half that price due to needing to raise funds quickly.
Therefore given that Maia would flourish at the London Stadium under Pellegrini and is the type of player the side need, then the Hammers must sign him in January if possible.
