West Ham should not hesitate to sign Kostas Mitroglou on loan
According to the Daily Mail, West Ham are interested in signing Marseille striker Kostas Mitroglou on loan in January.
The 30-year-old is no stranger to the Premier League, having played for Fulham back in the 2013/14 season. However, his involvement was limited to only three games in the Premier League due to recurrent injuries.
Since then, he rebuilt his reputation as a prolific goalscorer on his loan move to Olympiacos in the 2014/15 season where he scored 16 goals from 24 appearances in the Greek top-flight and followed it up with another successful loan spell at Benfica, scoring 25 goals across all competitions in the 2015/16 season. He carried his wonderful scoring form into the following season as well and scored a staggering 27 goals for the Portuguese giants in the 2016/17 season.
The 30-year-old Greek international made his move to Marseille in 2017 and scored 9 goals from 19 appearances in Ligue 1 last season. And he has hit the ground running this season as well, having already scored 3 goals from 9 appearances.
West Ham made a disastrous start to the season but the Hammers turned their fortunes around with victories over Manchester United and Everton. Manuel Pellegrini’s side once again suffered a dip in form and lost two games on a trot before registering an impressive 4-2 victory over Burnley. In other words, the Hammers have blown hot and cold so far this season.
Manuel Pellegrini was on a spending spree after taking charge in the summer and splashed the cash to sign as many as nine new players in the transfer window. However, West Ham currently face an injury crisis with as many as seven players on the treatment table including the likes Andriy Yarmolenko, Manuel Lanzini, Carlos Sanchez and Lucas Perez.
Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez were supposed to be the mainstays of West Ham’s forward line this season but the manager has rarely had both his strikers fit to play. To sum it up, West Ham has had a lot of problems with injuries this season.
As things stand, West Ham need another quality centre-forward in their ranks to act as cover and competition for Marko Arnautovic. Javier Hernandez is clearly past his prime and has underwhelmed this season while Michail Antonio has let the team down with his inconsistencies. Antonio has shown a lot of pace and endeavour but he visibly lacks that quality in front of goal.
To put things into perspective. Kostas Mitroglou might be a good option to add depth to the squad. As evident from his goalscoring form in recent seasons, it would be very harsh to label him as a Fulham flop.
Standing at 6ft.2 inches with a towering burly frame, Mitroglou has the perfect physique for a centre-forward. He uses his strength to outmuscle the defenders inside the penalty box and his aerial ability is always an asset to the team from set-pieces.
Apart from his clinical nature in front of goal, the Greek international also has the ability to set up goals for his teammates with his effective hold-up play and good vision. To put it in other words, he also has the ability to play as a target man.
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Hence, West Ham should not hesitate to sign this hugely experienced and prolific Greek international in January as it might help them secure a top-ten finish.
