OPINION
West Ham United’s 2-2 draw with Brighton on Wednesday night may have highlighted the brilliance of striker Marko Arnautovic, but it also highlighted one major problem.
The lack of quality regarding the other centre-forwards that Manuel Pellegrini has at his disposal is startling, with Andy Carroll and Lucas Perez far from the standard required to even make the starting XI.
Carroll proved on Wednesday why the supporters have not missed him in the slightest, with his inability to make any sort of impact in the Brighton box proving to be incredibly frustrating.
This is why the Hammers should win the race for Super Lig forward Mbaye Diagne, a player who they are interested in alongside Newcastle, according to Tutto Mercato Web.
Arnautovic’s place in the first team is hardly under threat, so he no doubt thinks that his place is all but guaranteed for the foreeable future.
However, what the attacker needs is another player to provide him with healthy competition – and Diagne is just the type of player who can deliver that.
Having scored 20 goals in 18 appearances for Kasimpasa this season, it is safe to say that the 27-year-old ace is in red-hot form right now.
This makes a move for him make complete sense – after all, what manager would not want a striker whose goal tally outnumbers his number of appearances?
The West Ham faithful would no doubt be blowing bubbles at the prospect of Diagne joining the club, as not only does it mean that he could form a lethal combination with Arnautovic – it also means that the likes of Carroll and Perez could be binned as soon as possible.
Diagne has a better goal record than most Premier League strikers at the moment and that is really something that the Irons should be taking advantage of right now.
They have the ability to improve upon any offer that Newcastle could make for him, so a swoop is a no-brainer really.
Over to you, Manuel.
