Ruslan Malinovskyi would be a good signing for West Ham in January
According to Sky Sports Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio, Genk’s Ukrainian international midfielder Ruslan Malinovskiy is rated at €12million and his qualities ‘haven’t gone unnoticed’ by Roma sporting director Monchi.
The Giallorossi are keeping close tabs on Malinovskiy, who has been in terrific form in the Belgian top flight this season. The 25-year-old has accumulated 11 goals and 10 assists from 31 appearances for Genk across all competitions.
A youth product of now-defunct Ukrainian club Polissya Zhytomyr, Malinovskiy played for the reserves of Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevastopol and Zorya Luhansk before making a permanent move to Genk on the back of a successful loan spell in the 2016-17 season. The 25-year-old, who has 18 international caps to his name, has been a familiar face in Ukraine’s midfield this season in the UEFA Nations League, scoring in the 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic.
A left footed-central midfielder, Malinovskiy is an excellent passer of the ball who likes to dictate the tempo of the game in the middle of the park with his flawless passing and distribution. He is not a traditional defensive midfielder who sits in front of the back four but Malinovskiy is more of a roaming central midfielder who can be termed as a withdrawn playmaker.
The 25-year-old has excellent vision to switch the play and change the focal point of the attack with accurate long passes. He has had a good Europa League campaign with Genk this season, averaging 63 passes per game with an accuracy percentage of 84.1, including 1.7 key passes, 1.2 crosses and 5.3 successful long balls per game.
Malinovskiy likes to make runs forward to support the attack where his superior technical abilities and incisive passing can improve cohesion in the final third. However, he is best known for his magical left foot that is capable of finding the net from virtually anywhere on the pitch.
A fantastic distance-shooter, he just needs a glimpse of goal and he doesn’t hesitate to put his foot through the ball. Furthermore, he is a set-piece specialist who sets up goals for his teammates with inch-perfect deliveries from free-kicks.
To put things into perspective, Malinovskiy has all the attributes to achieve success in the Premier League and West Ham should look to enter the race to sign the Ukrainian international.
The Hammers spent a fortune in the summer and the fans have every reason to be disappointed with their team’s performances so far. Manuel Pellegrini’s men are currently in a respectable position to be in heading into the second half of the season but they should look to improve on that in the later stages of the campaign.
Injuries have played a major role in West Ham’s campaign so far, with summer recruits Carlos Sanchez, Jack Wilshere and Andriy Yarmolenko all currently on the treatment table. To add to that, the lacklustre displays of Pedro Obiang has given Pellegrini plenty of selection headaches.
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As indicated by the source, Ruslan Malinovskiy is someone who would come well inside West Ham’s budget and the Ukrainian definitely has the class to add depth to Pellegrini’s midfield options. In fact, West Ham would look a much more formidable unit with the Ukrainian international partnering Declan Rice in the middle of the park.
That said, they should start pursuing an interest in the 25-year-old in the January transfer window to help them in their bid for a top-ten finish.
