West Ham Opinion: Hammers should complete the signing of Gustavo Cuellar at the earliest
According to reports from the Daily Star, West Ham are on the verge of signing Colombian international midfielder Gustavo Cuellar from Brazilian club Flamengo after having their £24 million bid accepted.
The Daily Star understands that Serie A giants Napoli and Atalanta were also in the race to sign the highly-rated 26-year-old from the Brazilian top-flight but West Ham have emerged victorious in the bidding war and Cuellar is set to sign a contract with the Hammers in a couple of months time.
West Ham have a lucrative four-year deal for the player in the pipeline, which would see him earn around £33,000-a-week, six times the amount that he currently earns at Flamengo. The Daily Star reports that the Hammers have already ironed out a deal and the negotiations between the two clubs are heading towards a positive conclusion.
However, as reported by Daily Star, Gustavo Cuellar is likely to pledge his loyalty to Flamengo and continue playing for his team until the end of the ongoing Brazilian season which gives over in December, meaning that the 26-year-old would only be able to join the Hammers midway through the upcoming Premier League campaign.
That might be a problem given that Cuellar, though rated very highly in Brazil, has never played in Europe.
A full pre-season with the Hammers should have made his job of acclimatising to the new surroundings a lot easier but given that he is a quality player, one would expect him to fit into the team in due course of time.
Cuellar, who has 5 international caps for Colombia at the senior international level, rose through the youth ranks of famous Colombian club Deportivo Cali and made 74 appearances for his boyhood club before moving across the continent to join Flamengo in 2016.
Following his initial struggles to nail down a regular first-team spot at Flamengo, Cuellar has established himself as an indispensable component of the squad over the last couple of years and has earned rave reviews for his performances in central midfield.
Essentially a defensive midfielder by trade, Cuellar is known for his flawless passing and immaculate distribution, enabling him to hold things together in the middle of the park and add stability to the team.
He is a sort of a midfield general who likes to keep things ticking in the middle of the park and dictates the tempo of the game by retaining possession effectively and spreading the play to bring his teammates into play.
As per last season’s statistics, the 26-year-old averaged 56.5 passes per game with an accuracy rate of 92.2, including 3.6 successful long balls and 0.4 key passes, figures which show what a good passer of the ball he is.
Cuellar is not only about passing and distribution though, with his wonderful tackling ability making him a very solid player in a holding midfield role.
He responds well to the transitions in play and succeeds in cutting out the attacks with crucial tackles and interceptions more often than not. As a matter of fact, Cuellar successfully completed 110 of his attempted 150 tackles in the Brazilian top-flight last season.
To add to that, Gustavo is a strong and tenacious player who contributes a lot with is work rate on and off the ball, which is a sine qua non for any defensive midfielder in the Premier League.
To put things into perspective, West Ham are currently in dire need of midfield reinforcements and Gustavo Cuellar certainly fits the bill. There is always an element of risk involved in signing players from South American leagues but Cuellar is really talented and he should fit into the side in due course of time.
Declan Rice enjoyed a wonderful run in West Ham’s midfield this past season, while Mark Noble also did reasonably well. However, the Hammers should consider getting the likes of Pedro Obiang and Carlos Sanchez,33, off their books as both the players have struggled form and fitness and neither of them is likely to offer much in relation to the club’s long-term plans.
Also, Noble hasn’t got the legs any more to play 40-50 games in a season and West Ham should look at Cuellar as someone who could increase competition for places and add to squad depth.
Jack Wilshere can be a gem of a player when he is fit but he is not exactly a defensive or a holding midfielder, with his creativity and vision making him a better fit for a box-to-box or attacking role.
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West Ham beat Watford 4-1 on the final day to secure a top-ten finish and challenging for a European spot should be the next big step for the Hammers, with a Premier League winning manager like Manuel Pellegrini at the helm of affairs.
They need to bring in quality players for that purpose and Gustavo Cuellar certainly falls in that bracket, although he has never played in Europe before.
