Why West Ham should sign Gaetan Laborde

According to Chronicle Live, West Ham are said to be the club most interested in Gaetan Laborde of Montpellier. It is being reported that the forward is available at a cut price of £10.8million due to financial problems at the French club. Newcastle are also said to be keeping an eye on the player who has started the season strongly.

Profile

Gaetan Laborde is a 26-year-old French forward who plays for Ligue 1 club Montpellier. A youth product of Stade Montois, he started out at their academy in 2000. After spending 8 years there, he moved to Girondins Bordeaux. Within 3 years of playing for the youth sides, he was promoted to the ‘B’ team.

While he was playing for the B side, he was loaned out to Red Star FC for one season. On his return, he was promoted to the first-team but was again loaned out to Stade Brest. It was only after 2016 that he got a regular run in the Bordeaux side.

In 71 appearances, he scored 19 and assisted 5. After two seasons in 2018, he was signed by Montpellier. Since then, he has been rather prolific for them, scoring 21 goals and assisting 16 in 84 appearances. Laborde was a regular of the France youth side right till the U-20s but hasn’t featured for the senior team.

Laborde can add quality and depth to West Ham’s frontline

Compared to previous seasons, West Ham can say that they are in a much better place. They have been playing some solid football under David Moyes. All things said and done, West Ham do have some problems in their attack. Apart from Michael Antonio, they lack a prolific goalscorer.

The £45million outlay on Sebastien Haller is yet to pay dividends. Haller has struggled since his move and has failed to establish himself as a reliable goal getter. In the absence of Antonio, the side has struggled to find goals. That can be solved with the signing of someone like Gaetan Laborde.

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The French ace has been in good form for Montpellier over the last two and a half seasons and even started this season well. He has already contributed to 8 goals in 13 appearances.

What’s even better is that he contributes a lot of assists. A move would no doubt benefit West Ham as he can be the perfect foil to target men like Antonio and Haller. At £10.8million, he seems like a bargain buy which West Ham should definitely look to bring in.