OPINION
It is fair to say that Jordan Hugill didn’t exactly hit the ground running when he sealed his move to West Ham United from Preston.
The target man has struggled for consistent playing time at the Hammers and has recently secured his second loan spell to the Championship in as many seasons.
Despite paying £10million for Hugill, West Ham never really utilised the striker and failed to give him any sort of chance at the London Stadium – but that doesn’t seem to have phased the 27-year-old.
In an interview with the Gazette Live, Hugill admitted that he still has ambitions of playing in the top flight and that he doesn’t regret making the move to East London one bit.
Hugill said: “I have no regrets at all, going from Preston to West Ham is something I could never have dreamed of in my whole life. I’d do it over and over again, regardless of what happens, I’d do it 100 times over.”
“Now for me, I want to prove everyone wrong thinking that I can’t be this Premier League player anymore. They think I’m just an average Championship player, when really if I get back to my form that I was at Preston, I could be up there with some of the best in the league.”
Hugill is surely kidding himself with this career goal and must leave his dreamworld, after all, he surely doesn’t actually believe that he still has a future at West Ham or the Premier League.
The rarely-seen West Ham man should have taken the hint from his time at the Hammers, and push for a permanent exit after he only managed to feature for 22 minutes in the Premier League – not a stat that he would want to remember.
One thing that became apparent during his spell at Middlesbrough last season, was the fact that he isn’t even up there as one of the best in the Championship. Hugill only managed to score six goals in 37 appearances, and as he only completed 0.1 dribbles per game on average – it is clear to see why he struggled to make such little impact [WhoScored].
Hugill may have all the self-belief in the world, but the reality remains that he must snap out of this Premier League mind-frame immediately and set himself up for a permanent exit next summer as he just isn’t good enough for the top-flight.