According to reports in the Sun, West Ham United are interesting in signing Miguel Almiron and hope new signing Fabian Balbuena can help them beat London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal to the signature of this Paraguayan MLS superstar.
The 24-year-old is in hot demand, especially in the Premier League, having scored 12 times and assisted 13 this year for Atlanta United. As per the report, Spurs were leading Arsenal in the race to sign the attacking midfielder.
However, the new update has taken a bit of a twist from the previous one, with West Ham keen on getting the Paraguayan. They are going to use the help of summer recruit, Balbuena, to do it. The Hammers are readying themselves to pay £25m for the 24-year-old.
Here’s why the East London club can bag a coup if they sign Almiron in the future:
Miguel Almiron is a fantastic player who possesses an array of attributes at his disposal. As mentioned above, he has netted 12 goals and supplied 11 assists in 32 appearances in the MLS this year. The 24-year-old has a key pass rate of 2.3, meaning he fabricated 74 chances towards a goal-scoring opportunity.
The Paraguayan generally plays behind a striker in the No. 10 role but he is equally adept at playing on the left wing and cutting inside. He is great at dribbling past defenders, threading through balls and supplying devilish crosses into the box. But more importantly, he can put a shift off the ball when required.
West Ham have Manuel Lanzini possibly out for this season and the injury to Andriy Yarmolenko has compounded issues. Hence, Manuel Pellegrini wouldn’t mind having a player of Almiron’s quality in his arsenal after the January transfer window.
The Hammers can use Balbuena’s connections and attract the 24-year-old to lure him to the London Stadium. He could be a proper game-changer for them.
A player is of top quality when clubs like Arsenal and Tottenham are chasing him. For that reason, if West Ham grab him ahead of their London rivals, it could really be a coup.
Pellegrini is an attack-minded manager by his instincts, and hence, he should love to work with a player who is gold while going forward but can perform for the team in tough situations as well.
As far as Almiron is concerned, playing a season or two with West Ham could propel him towards an eventual big move.
Stats Courtesy – Whoscored.com
