OPINION
West Ham must attempt to land Gelson Martins this January, 18 months after regular BBC 5 Live pundit Don Hutchinson told the Hammers to make a move for him.
The ex-Irons midfielder took to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon to wax lyrical about the out of favour Atletico Madrid winger following a report from the Chronicle that Newcastle have opened talks to bring him to Tyneside.
In his post Hutchinson said: “What a player Gelson Martins is!!!! I told a couple of managers 18months ago to go get him.
“He comes out the same academy and coaching of Nani/Ronaldo. He could be worth 100million if developed well.
“West Ham said no to me.”
https://twitter.com/donhutch4/status/1088058362993012736
The ex-Scottish international’s claims of the 23-year-old’s potential may be a little hyperbolic, but there is no doubt that he could go on to become a seriously exciting player, and the Hammers should snap him up.
The Portugal international is a rapidly quick old school wide man who loves running at defenders and going straight for the jugular.
It’s true that he is far from the finished article, but with a bit of trust and some patience he could really kick on and become real threat capable of driving West Ham towards their European ambitions.
The Irons might have got this one wrong before, but they shouldn’t make the same mistake again.
