You can’t help but feel that West Ham United really are a team on the up.
A stable manager who the fans appear to like, a wealth of talent on the pitch – including French wing-wizard Dimitri Payet – and a swanky new stadium that would be fit for most top teams in the world.
Manager Slaven Bilic seems to be having no trouble in bringing in solid new players like Gokhan Tore and Sofiane Feghouli and it really serves to show how far the Hammers have come since their relegation-threatened days of years past.
Dimitri Payet’s keenness to commit his immediate future to the club is also an extremely promising sign, so things are looking considerably rosy in East London right now.
And if certain headlines prove to be correct, could things start getting even better for the Hammers?
Big-name publications have been quick to link the Hammers with a sensational move for Real Madrid winger James Rodriguez this weekend, with no-one at the club disputing the rumours of yet.
Should the move come off, it could serve to be one of the most high-profile signings we’ve seen in Premier League history and the Colombian would certainly assist in expanding the ever-growing West Ham brand, which shows no sign of slowing down. But what exactly could the Madrid man do for the Hammers if he does join the club in one of the most exciting times in their history?
Well, lots if we’re being honest.
He can play across several positions in the midfield and forward lines and he has excellent skill, vision and the uncanny ability to create chances for his team-mates. His striking talent hasn’t gone unnoticed throughout his career either, and he is considered to be one of the best set-piece takers in the world.
He’s been massively underused at Madrid since his €80m to the Bernabeu back in 2014 and has never really managed to settle in a side full of superstars. Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale seem to grab the headlines week-after-week and there just seems to be no room for Rodriguez.
He was left on the bench during Madrid’s Champions League final win over rivals Atletico and it must have been a real kick in the teeth for the 25-year-old, whom so much was expected of when he made the transfer from Monaco.
Yet despite his lack of appearances and being able to make that clinical difference, Rodriguez has never really shown any signs of frustration and is yet to publicly declare any sort of willingness to leave which could put any potential move on the rocks.
But if you want a better picture of what Rodriguez can do, look no further than the Colombian national team, where he one of, it not the biggest player in the side.
In the World Cup back in 2014 he was absolutely massive for his nation, scoring in each of Colombia’s opening games before eventually winning the Golden Boot, despite Colombia’s quarter-final elimination. He’s followed this up with strong performances hereafter and the winger also played well in this years Copa America too as Colombia finished third.
Look, there’s reasons why you’re compared to players like Carlos Valderrama and these comparisons take time to develop as players prove themselves.
Whether West Ham have enough commercial pulling-power to attract a player of Rodriguez’s calibre is yet to be unseen but as aforementioned, there are plenty of signs to suggest the Hammers are firmly cementing themselves as one of the Premier League’s bigger sides.
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