Why West Ham should make a move for Lazio’s Felipe Caicedo
According to Calciomercato (h/t The Sun), West Ham have had an enquiry for Lazio striker Felipe Caicedo rejected.
Felipe Caicedo, 31, joined Lazio in the summer of 2017 from Espanyol, and he has gone on to score 23 goals in 100 appearances for the Italian outfit. He has had to make do with playing second fiddle behind Ciro Immobile for much of the campaign for Lazio. Despite that, the striker has netted eight goals and registered two assists in 21 Serie A games.
Lazio want to keep the 31-year-old striker at the club and have already rejected an offer from the Hammers. (h/t The Sun)
West Ham have endured an underwhelming campaign so far and are currently 16th in the league table after a 3-1 home win over Southampton, ending a four-game winless run. They have won just 2 out of their last 11 league games, leaving them in a precarious position in the table as we enter the business end of 2019/20 campaign.
Sebastien Haller has not exactly matched expectations following his £45million club-record move to West Ham from Eintracht Frankfurt. He scored 20 goals and provided 12 assists in all competitions last season as Eintracht Frankfurt made it to the semi-finals of the Europa League.
That convinced the Hammers to break their club transfer record on the centre-forward; however, Haller hasn’t managed to live up to his huge price-tag. The Frenchman hasn’t been awful but he has still managed just seven goals in 28 matches so far—a mediocre return considering the money the Premier League club paid.
Swiss international Albian Ajeti was also bought last summer, but he has failed to make it beyond 8 league appearances. Other forwards such as Michail Antonio and Felipe Anderson haven’t made telling contributions and to solve the club’s goalscoring woes, David Moyes signed Jarrod Bowen from Hull City in January.
Bowen scored his first goal in West Ham colours during the victory over Southampton last weekend. However, Bowen isn’t the solution to West Ham’s problems in front of goal and that is why Moyes should beef up his attack before the new campaign begins. That being said, the Hammers must make an attempt to sign Caicedo in the summer.
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In the Serie A, the Ecuadorian has proven himself to be an effective back-up option to Immobile this season, bagging eight goals in just 11 starts—a fantastic return.
Verdict
West Ham have Haller as their primary striker but have little other option with plenty of quality. Ajeti has failed to make an impact since his move, while Antonio and Bowen are wingers. Thus, Caicedo’s inclusion in the West Ham squad will bring in a quality back-up for Haller as well as healthy competition within the team, helping the club to progress next season.
