OPINION
West Ham midfielder Carlos Sanchez surely is on borrowed time regarding his Hammers career based on the fact that Manuel Pellegrini’s side nearly signed the ideal replacement for him before the window shut.
The Daily Express reported on Wednesday that the Hammers made a move to take Tottenham midfielder Victor Wanyama on loan before the window slammed shut earlier in August.
The national newspaper may have highlighted that the move fell through without saying why, but it’s clear that the club’s reported summer pursuit should be worrying Sanchez despite the Hammers failing to get Spurs’ midfield enforcer.
Wanyama and Sanchez are both defensive-minded midfielders and you feel that you would rate the 28-year-old Spurs man as being a more worthwhile player to have in Pellegrini’s squad.
This isn’t just because Wanyama is more of a long-term solution to the Hammers’ need to be defensively better in midfield due to being five-years younger, but his stats speak for themselves.
Both players struggled to feature in their 2018/19 campaigns for their respective clubs, but despite this Wanyama still made the most of his minutes compared to the Colombian when comparing them on WhoScored.
Wanyama contributed a goal, unlikely Sanchez, averaged more shots per game, was a stronger force in the air as he won more aerial duels per game and he achieved a higher average rating.
Also across their Premier League careers, Wanyama comes out top in many other categories as well.
The 28-year-old has more Premier League experience, he has played 152 times in England’s top-flight whereas Sanchez has racked up 56 appearances, and seems more consistent defensively.
Wanyama has made 385 tackles in the Premier League, winning 77% of his tackles, made 217 interceptions, blocked 31 shots and has made a staggering 260 clearances. (Source: Premier League)
In comparison, Sanchez has made 135 tackles, winning 69% of them, made 84 interceptions, blocked only 17 shots and has made 72 clearances. (Source: Premier League)
While the Spurs man has clearly racked up more numbers due to featuring more, he does seem to have the edge even if you take that into account especially considering he has a better success rate when it comes to tackling.
It’s also worth noting that you feel Sanchez is on borrowed time at the London Stadium as he hasn’t exactly cemented a place in the first-team.
The 33-year-old, who earns £50,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac), joined the Hammers last summer and only made eight appearances in his debut campaign, with injury playing its part, and has so far only featured for seven minutes this season (Source: Transfermarkt).
So considering the Hammers tried to sign Wanyama and Sanchez hasn’t locked down his place in the first-team, he’s surely on borrowed time as it does look like West Ham have already contemplated a change in his position.
