OPINION
Paul Merson happily berated West Ham over selling Cheikhou Kouyate in the summer to Crystal Palace but he was clearly wrong to do so.
The Sky Sports pundit claimed early in the season that the Hammers sold the 28-year-old on the cheap and that the London club were clearly missing 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 in September on Sky Sports’ The Debate, as quoted by the broadcaster’s 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.”
However hindsight is a beautiful thing.
Merson made those comments after the Hammers made an awful start to the 2017/18 campaign but it is now clear he was wrong to berate Manuel Pellegrini’s side over parting company with the midfielder.
Kouyate hasn’t exactly stole the show for Palace in the 15 appearances he made for them and on Saturday when facing the Hammers he was outclassed.
The 28-year-old won his fair share of tackles in the first half of the Hammers’ 3-2 victory over Palace, sure, but then he turned into the invisible man and had no sort of impact in the second part of the match.
Mark Noble, who wasn’t at his best, and Declan Rice, who just regularly started playing in midfield this season, looked a level above their former teammate and it showed that the Hammers did right to get rid in the summer.
While some may argue that the Hammers still lack depth in midfield, an injury crisis can reek havoc in that department, when you consider that Kouyate was a big earner at the club as he raked in £60,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac) it was a smart decision to get him off the books.
Merson happily jumped on the Hammers back for parting company with Kouyate in the summer but now that the 28-year-old is clearly struggling and the Hammers are steaming ahead, the pundit was clearly wrong to criticised the decision.
