West Ham United’s potential coup of Barcelona and Spain defender Jordi Alba would “come as a massive surprise” and would be a “real statement.”
That is according to journalist Pete O’Rourke, who would be surprised if the Hammers were to pull off a signing of the Spaniard’s quality by his own admission.
Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, O’Rourke said: “David Moyes, I think, is interested in signing a left-back to improve the squad. It would come as a massive surprise if they did pursue a move for Jordi Alba, who is probably coming to the end of his career, but he’s won everything.
“He’s been a brilliant left-back, one of the best around, so I think it’d be a real statement signing if West Ham did bring him to the London stadium.”
A real statement
As Spain’s starting left-back, Alba’s lack of minutes in Barcelona is a mystery, with the star delivering for his side in the World Cup thus far.
A lack of starts for the side is made even more of a shock when you look at his impact throughout the last season, despite his age of 33, where most players show some sort of decline.
His 12 attacking returns from 30 La Liga appearances last season, in the form of two goals and 10 assists, ranked him as Barcelona’s third-most impactful asset in terms of direct attacking returns, just two behind Memphis Depay who ranked top.
In Spain’s two Qatar World Cup appearances so far, the £350k-per-week man has shone, achieving back-to-back man-of-the-match ratings for his efforts against Costa Rica and Germany, respectively, grabbing an assist in both games.
His presence at the London Stadium would be massive for West Ham, though with his calibre still clearly very high, it is unlikely that the Spaniard would make the switch, as O’Rourke rightly points out.
