OPINION
West Ham were linked with making a move for attacker Mario Balotelli in January but they ended up losing the race for his signature as he joined Marseille.
Tuttomercatoweb reported in January that Manuel Pellegrini had enquired about the forward’s availability, with Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Carlo Laudis going on to claim via his Twitter that the Hammers were willing to match Marseille’s offer.
Colpo di scena per #Balotelli. Si fa avanti il #WestHam ed è una candidatura forte che sorpassa il #Marsiglia
— Carlo Laudisa (@carlolaudisa) January 22, 2019
While missing out on Balotelli didn’t feel like a big deal at the time, surely the Hammers are regretting not acquiring his services in hindsight.
The 28-year-old has been in incredible form for Marseille since joining them as he has scored five goals in eight appearances.
Balotelli looks lively during matches, seems a positive influence on the pitch even when not touching the ball and is simply getting in the right positions to score time and time again.
Given this you feel the 28-year-old would walk into the current Hammers team now based on the form he is showing for the French giants.
This is especially when you consider that the Hammers’ current attacking options aren’t exactly undroppable.
Marko Arnautovic has lost all his form since all the speculation over his future, with injury playing its part too, and while Javier Hernandez has started scoring, he never seems to put in a good performance across the whole 90 minutes of match.
Then there’s no point even mentioning Andy Carroll or Lucas Perez as both have struggled whenever called upon and just don’t look like viable options.
So with the Hammers lacking quality up front and Balotelli looking the real deal at the moment, surely the Hammers have to be kicking themselves over not getting their man.
