The signing of Pedro Obiang signals the final mark of the end of Alex Song’s East London career. However, there is not really any reason to be downhearted about this. In fact, there are much better things on the horizon for West Ham United as we look at the reasons why Obiang will be a much better Hammer than his Cameroonian predecessor.
Cheaper
Obiang will cost the club just £4.4million, an absolute bargain considering modern day and age transfer fees, as well as the footballing potential that he possesses. Song on the other hand was taking £160,000 per week, in addition to the huge fee that would have to have been paid in order to secure his services on a regular basis. This allows new manager Slaven Bilic to have the sufficient funds that will enable him to strengthen other areas of the West Ham squad, without having the restrictions of limited budget.
Also, we won’t have to worry about him leaving after a season or so like Song did. Obiang was at Sampdoria since he was a teenager and has made over one hundred starts for them, making his way through their youth system. This makes the transfer fee all the more of greater value as it is a longer term investment.
Bigger Goal Threat
It was often murmured amongst Hammers fans that Song was perhaps a lazy footballer, and this was reflected in the amount of times that he found the back of the net. The Cameroonian midfielder never scored a goal for West Ham. In fact, Song has not scored a goal since November 2012. Obiang offers more of a goal threat than his counterpart.
As a defensive midfielder in Serie A, the Spaniard netted three times in 23 appearances for Sampdoria, whilst Song never scored a goal once in 25 appearances in central defensive midfield. In addition to this, as the new arrival is four years younger than the outgoing Song, then we can expect a lot more from Obiang has his confidence looks to build at Upton Park.
Consistency
Song was extremely inconsistent in his game, and as a football club this is not the calibre of footballer that the Irons should be advocating. His passing success rate in the 2014/15 season was 76%, but you would expect something much better from a player who is on loan from Barcelona, especially when you have been playing alongside the likes of Xavi and Iniesta for multiple years, some of the best passers in the history of the game.
Obiang managed a higher 82% passing accuracy rate in Italy. Song averaged 0.4 shots per game, demonstrating a lack of intent, whilst our new signing recorded more than double this with 0.9. Finally, even though both these players play in the exact same position on the pitch, Song’s work rate was poor. You would like your defensive midfielder to get stuck in, as the best in the world are there to protect and shield the back four. The 27-year-old received just four yellow cards, nowhere near the triple amount of twelve that 23-year- old Obiang gained.
