West Ham make formal move for “exceptional” talent

How many more signings will West Ham United get through the door before their Premier League opener against Sunderland?

So far, the Hammers have brought in Callum Wilson on a free transfer from Newcastle United, while full-backs El Hadji Malick Diouf and Kyle Walker-Peters have also arrived.

Meantime, they also appear set to bolster their goalkeeping options, having reportedly agreed a £9m deal to sign Botafogo shot-stopper John Victor.

Now though, the Irons have their sights set on a midfielder, one who would belatedly replace Declan Rice, two years on from his departure for Arsenal.

West Ham United targeting a new midfielder

Fair to say, neither Graham Potter, nor his predecessor Julen Lopetegui, settled on a reliable, first-choice midfield combination last season, as the table below illustrates.

As the table documents, aside from Tomáš Souček and wantaway Lucas Paquetá, none of West Ham’s midfielders were ever able to establish themselves as nailed-on starters, with both managers in charge chopping and changing their options.

As they seek to bolster that area of the pitch, Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider is reporting that West Ham have made a formal move to sign Douglas Luiz from Juventus on loan, amid interest from Nottingham Forest and Manchester United.

The Brazilian only moved to Turin from Aston Villa, for a reported fee of £42.3m as recently as last summer, but O’Rourke notes that la Vecchia Signora are eager to move him on following, as former-Juve player Alessio Tacchinardi puts it, a “disaster” of a campaign.

Luiz featured in only 17% of I Bianconeri’s minutes across all competitions last season, not winning over either Thiago Motta or current manager Igor Tudor, hence why O’Rourke asserts that it is ‘inevitable’ he will return to the Premier League, so could this be in East London?

How Douglas Luiz would improve West Ham

While Luiz did endure a nightmare campaign in Italy, it’s worth remembering that the reason Juventus spent big to sign him in the first place is because he was amongst the Premier League’s best midfielders during his last couple of seasons at Aston Villa.

Statman Dave heralded his “exceptional performances”, while his then-manager Unai Emery stated that he was “progressing a lot as a midfielder… adding goals and… being demanding”.

Meantime, Ben Mattinson of Breaking the Lines praises his ‘duel-winning capacity’ and ‘press resistance’ in possession, describing these as his greatest strengths, concluding that he would be a ‘valuable addition’ to any Premier League squad.

Adam Bate of Sky Sports agrees, noting that Luiz added goals to his game, starting to ‘showcase his creative qualities​​​​​​​’ during his final campaign in the Midlands, ‘often operating in more advanced areas’ and flourishing when utilised with a more solid midfield base behind him, namely provided by Boubacar Kamara.

This is similar to the transformation undergone by Rice following his move to Arsenal; Mikel Arteta thought he was buying the best number six in the Premier League but, as outlined by Jacob Steinberg of the Guardian, he thrives as a number eight, set to be given even more attacking license this forthcoming campaign, following Martín Zubimendi’s arrival in North London.

Over in the east side of the capital, Luiz could do something similar because, if there’s one thing West Ham do boast, it is an array of defensively astute midfielders, namely Souček, Guido Rodríguez, Edson Álvarez and others.

So, let’s put that hypothesis to the test by comparing where these midfielders take their touches.

As the table notes, when compared to the vast majority West Ham’s midfielders last season, Luiz took an exponentially higher proportion of his touches during his most recent Premier League season, in the final third, with only Paquetá’s figures comparable, and he will purportedly be on the move this month.

Álvarez, Rodríguez and James Ward-Prowse in particular do the vast majority of their work in the defensive or middle third of the pitch, which could be exactly what Luiz needs to thrive in a more attacking role.

Thus, all the available evidence suggests a move to the London Stadium could be the perfect fit for Luiz, where he could become the talismanic midfielder Hammers everywhere have been craving, ever since Rice waved goodbye.