Can A £30m Outlay For A Playmaker Really Be Justified When West Ham Have More Pressing Needs?

Can A £30m Outlay For A Playmaker Really Be Justified When West Ham Have More Pressing Needs?

Andre Gomes

The pursuit of Barcelona midfielder Andre Gomes is now a top priority for the club according to ExWHUemployee.

West Ham may even sell Pedro Obiang in order to finance a £30m deal for the Portuguese international after their opening £18m bid was reportedly rejected by Barcelona.

Gomes demonstrated during his loan spell at Everton that he has the quality to play in the Premier League so a move for the midfielder isn’t entirely surprising, but with a limited transfer budget, I find it hard to see why he is a priority.



As mentioned in a previous blog post, the Hammers had one player who scored double figures last season, and that was Marko Arnautovic whose future at the club is very much up in the air following his flirtation with Chinese clubs in January.

You could argue that Gomes could be the playmaker to create the chances for strikers to score more goals, but his track record of assists during his career is pretty poor.

He created just two goals for Everton last season, and in total, he has provided just 14 assists in 226 top-flight appearances for the likes of Benfica, Valencia, Barcelona and the Toffees.

In terms of goals, he is equally circumspect with just 24 in senior football, including the eight that he scored for Benfica B in the Portuguese second division. With his lack of goals and assists, it could be argued that he has more in common with Jack Wilshere, with the important exception that he isn’t injury prone.

I’m not doubting Gomes’s talent, and he may prove to be a good addition, but I just think that £30m would be far better spent on signing a new striker this summer who could push the club closer towards the top six next season.

Alternatively, you could even argue the case for spending the money on a new defender considering the 55 goals conceded in the Premier League last campaign. A £30m outlay could get you a very good partner for Issa Diop, or perhaps a couple of fullbacks that would offer more defensive solidity, as well as a threat going forward.

There have been a lot of mistakes made in recruitment in recent years, and while there is certainly more trust in Mario Husillos and Manuel Pellegrini to get these things right, for me, Gomes would be fourth on my priority list, not top as seems to be the case.

David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.