West Ham, Everton and Manchester United have been offered Marseille midfielder Kevin Strootman on loan, according to Sky Sports.
The Dutch international was only signed from Roma for £23m a year ago, but the Ligue One club are already looking to cut their losses on the 29-year-old with his wages proving too much for a team who failed to qualify for the Champions League.
Strootman has 43 caps for the Netherlands and has played at the highest level for both club and country. So what harm could come from signing an experienced Dutchman on loan, you may ask? Well, here are a few reasons why it may not be a good idea:
1) Injury-ravaged career
He missed the best part of two seasons between 2014 and 2016 with two separate knee injuries. While he has recovered to play regular football since then, he has failed to reach the same performance levels following his serious injury issues.
Strootman finished last campaign with Marseille having started just three of the last 11 league games following an adductor injury he sustained in February.
2) His numbers don’t add up
Strootman would regularly contribute goals and assists during his time at PSV, as well as during his first season at Roma. He did return to some sort of form in the 2016/17 campaign but his final season with the Giallorossi was poor, scoring just one goal and providing one assist.
Consequently, he has moved into a deeper role at Marseille where he is less inclined to go forward, meaning he scored just one goal and contributed five assists last campaign. That deeper role is filled by Declan Rice at the Hammers and Mark Noble has offered more in the final third of the pitch (five goals and five assists)
3) A costly investment with no guarantees of improving the team
Strootman is currently earning £76,000 a week at Marseille, which isn’t a sizeable salary in relative terms for a Premier League player but combined with a loan fee, it would turn out to be a costly investment.
Considering the history of investing money on injury prone players like Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll, adding another such player to the payroll wouldn’t seem to be a sensible decision.
With Strootman’s recent club career record, there are no guarantees he would improve on the central midfield the Hammers already have and that money could be better spent on signing a younger, hungrier player who could have the potential to improve.