West Ham: Michy Batshuayi seems stuck for a reason

West Ham are after that elite striker that will push them into Premier League contention but they should probably be looking elsewhere than Michy Batshuayi.

Slaven Bilic has made his transfer window priorities perfectly clear. His Hammers need a striker. Apparently Andy Carroll just wasn’t cutting it, even with his bizarre heroics against Arsenal.

West Ham have their work cut out for them this summer. Not only do they need to attract an elite striker to their cause, but they have to maintain possession of Dmitri Payet as well and, given his theatrics at the Euros, that is going to be hard to do.

However, one of the best ways to secure his stay may be to nab a class act striker before he can even consider leaving. There are strikers available out there, even if the prices are driven sky high. The problem is simple – if you want quality, you have to pay more than you would ever imagine for less quality than you wanted in the first place.

That is the problem with West Ham’s pursuit of Michy Batshuayi. Sure, there is quality, but will he acclimatize right away? No.

You see, I used to be a big fan of Batshuayi and I couldn’t wait to see where he landed after Standard Liege. Obviously he ended up at Marseille, where the goals came rather consistently. The Belgian never scored more than two in any game, but he also never went more than three starts without scoring. Again, call it consistency.

That should be all that West Ham are looking for, right?

Wrong.

There is one major problem that I see with Batshuayi coming to England. He is a decent size striker, but he doesn’t know how to use his size and strength. It’s inexplicable that he is a bit of a pushover in the air. He stands 185cm tall and averages less than one aerial duels won per match.

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But that’s merely a minor thing that highlights a major thing. And that major thing is his ball retention. You see, he loses the ball over five times per appearance. That is a rough figure and it highlights the fact that he doesn’t know how to protect the ball yet. That is rather important in an unforgiving Premier League that will eat weak handlers of the ball like Batshuayi alive.

For the right price though, that kind of thing can be overcome. An imperfect striker that needs to learn to utilize his size. What would that cost West Ham? Well, according to Marseille, over £30m.

To put it simply, that is a ridiculous price and one that is solely driven by the need for class strikers. But Marseille are confused why no one wants to pay for Batshuayi. It’s because of what was just said! The potential is there, but Batshuayi is almost a guarantee to need time to adjust and if Alexandre Lacazette is going to cost less, why not just pay for him?

Next: West Ham must retain Payet

West Ham should absolutely not fork out that kind of money for the Belgian. There is far too much risk.

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