Reports have been circulating this month about Carlos Bacca potentially signing for West Ham, and the local Hammers fans in the Transfer Tavern are excited about having someone from AC Milan join their club.
The Hammers enjoyed a strong campaign under Slaven Bilic in his first season in charge at the east Londoners booked another trip to the Europa League for 2016/17.
The positives didn’t end there though as the emergence of Dmitri Payet quickly became one of the stories of the season, as well as the growing excitement around the club’s move to the Olympic Stadium ready for next year.
The club is going places and will be hoping during this summer window to strengthen in some key positions, to ensure they can compete on all fronts and improve on last year’s seventh place in the league.
The Colombian Bacca could be a key part to the start of this new chapter for the club and so our landlord has run the rule over him to give you TWO pros and TWO cons of West Ham signing the former Sevilla man…..
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PRESS THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE THE TWO PROS AND TWO CONS!
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Pro 1 – Proven Goalscorer
The key to any successful striker is if he can hit the back of the net regularly and Bacca certainly ticks this box.
Whilst Milan had another lacklustre campaign, the Colombian still managed 18 goals and this cannot be ignored.
If he gets the right service he’ll score goals and he’s sure to get that with the likes of Payet and Manuel Lanzini buzzing around. Bacca would be a hit with Hammers fans in this regard.
Con 1 – Getting old
Bacca will be 30 in a few months and whilst that won’t be a concern for at least next season, it soon will be as he begins to decline as a footballer.
If Bacca hits the ground running at the club should he sign, this problem will be negated, but if he takes a while to settle in the Hammers might not get the best out of him at all during his time with the club and also won’t get much out of selling him on.
Pro 2 – Discipline
Bacca very rarely finds himself in the referee’s book and this will be key as West Ham look for a consistent strike force.
If the Colombian is always available he’ll become the first choice striker with Andy Carroll still having question marks over his fitness, and the other strikers not having the best of seasons at the club.
Carroll is also always going to earn himself cautions too with the way he plays, so Bacca will offer a more consistent presence up top, in the sense he’ll never have to adjust his game as much as Carroll does.
Con 2 – Passing
Arguable as to whether this is a weakness of a striker but Bacca’s passing could be better.
The Milan man looks to shoot and if he does offload the ball it’s not as accurate as it perhaps could be.
West Ham have looked to change their playing style from Sam Allardyce’s direct game to an approach, with more passing under Bilic and so Bacca will have to buy into this to be a success at the club.
