Samir Nasri made his debut for West Ham in the 2-0 win over Birmingham City in the FA Cup on Saturday.
The Frenchman played 58 minutes after making his first senior appearance for 13 months following a drugs ban, and the former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder impressed observers.
Fans on Twitter thought he was one of the standout players at the weekend:
Bit of Hazard about him, at his finest.
— Peter Wynne (@pwynne82) 5 January 2019
Nasri was on a different level to everyone else on the pitch today before he inevitably tired. #WHUFC ⚒
— Lee Clayton (@LeeClayton_) 5 January 2019
Type of player we have missed this season. Yeah its highish wages but he would have cost at least £15 million before his ban so its good business,
— Eddie Fensome (@EddieFensome) 5 January 2019
Looking foward to seeing this side play ?? how long till lanzini returns ? pic.twitter.com/QGh50zq9LI
— mark sullivan (@bigsul72) 5 January 2019
He needs 10 games
— Paul Addison (@Paddison93) 5 January 2019
He did tire very quickly tbf
— Mike Casey (@casertron3000) 5 January 2019
Decent. Considering Nasri hasn’t played for a year, he looked good #WHUFC
— Lewis Horder (@lewpot86) 5 January 2019
A good start with minutes under his belt.
— andy o’brien (@andyob51) 5 January 2019
There has been much debate about Nasri’s wages, and whether he is deserving of such a lucrative contract, but if he begins to show the type of performances he was capable of earlier in his career then it could prove money well spent.
Especially considering the injury situation in midfield, bringing in a player who was available on a free transfer at least gives manager Manuel Pellegrini some more options.
With the likes of Andriy Yarmolenko and Manuel Lanzini out injured, some of the onus needs to be taken off Felipe Anderson in terms of goals and creativity in the final third of the pitch.
