European football expert Lars Sivertsen has warned of an all-too-familiar story at West Ham should they sign rumoured January target Mariano Diaz.
The Hammers are on the lookout for a new striker after they sold Sebastien Haller to Ajax last week, and according to a recent report in the Daily Mail, Diaz is in the frame.
Sivertsen told talkSPORT’s Trans Europe Express show that the Real Madrid ace would struggle in the same way Haller did at the London Stadium, saying: ”I do wonder about sending him into a West Ham team who are quite reactive and like to sit off teams and hit them on the counter. As a lone striker you are often quite lonely indeed, and I do wonder if he will run into the same problems that Sebastien Haller had there.”
The Norweigan journalist did highlight the 27-year-old’s finishing and aerial abilities – attributes which came to the fore during a successful loan spell at Lyon.
However, after cutting ties with one inconsistent striker in Haller who failed to adapt to David Moyes’ style of play, the Irons boss would perhaps be wise to heed the dissenting voices around the Dominican Republic international.
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Signing a striker must be seen as a non-negotiable for West Ham after allowing Haller to leave. Moyes was already short on options in terms of centre-fowards and history tells us that Michail Antonio’s hamstrings unfortunately can’t be relied upon.
Whilst Sivertsen is merely pre-empting a potential pitfall, after shelling out a club-record fee on Haller, the Hammers board are likely to be once bitten, twice shy, and other possible avenues may have to be explored.
Following his £20.5m (BBC) switch to the Eredivisie from the London Stadium, Haller got off to a flying start when he came off the bench to assist Ajax’s equaliser against PSV on the weekend.
