West Ham United are weighing up a move for Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini as David Moyes looks to steady a side already reeling from a calamitous start to the new Premier League campaign.
The Hammers have shipped eight goals in their opening two fixtures, a 3-0 humiliation away to newly-promoted Sunderland followed by a 5-1 thrashing at home to Chelsea on Friday night. Supporters have wasted little time voicing their frustration, and the club hierarchy is under pressure to reinforce a midfield that has looked both brittle and one-paced.
According to Sky Sport Italia, West Ham have identified Pellegrini as a potential answer. The 29-year-old has been a stalwart for Roma, long regarded as one of the most technically gifted Italian midfielders of his generation. Yet his standing at the Stadio Olimpico has diminished in recent weeks.
The appointment of Gian Piero Gasperini as Roma manager has ushered in a ruthless reshaping of the squad. Pellegrini, who was stripped of the captaincy this summer, has found himself on the wrong side of the new regime. Gasperini has confirmed that no contract extension will be forthcoming, leaving the midfielder free to depart when his current deal expires at the end of the season.
That uncertainty has placed a host of European clubs on alert, with West Ham jostling among them. The London club are understood to be considering whether to test Roma’s resolve with a cut-price bid this month rather than wait until Pellegrini becomes a free agent.
For Moyes, the attraction is obvious. Pellegrini offers vision and experience, the ability to dictate tempo and knit attacks together—qualities conspicuously absent in the defeats to Sunderland and Chelsea. West Ham’s midfield pairing looked overrun in both games, unable to shield a shaky defence or provide meaningful service to the forwards.
There are, however, complications. Pellegrini may yet choose to stay in Rome until the summer, and West Ham face competition from clubs in Spain and Germany monitoring his availability. Wages could also be a stumbling block, with the Italian currently on terms that would make him one of the highest earners at the London Stadium.
Still, the prospect of Pellegrini in claret and blue will tempt fans searching for optimism after a bleak start. For a side badly in need of fresh impetus, it may be the gamble Moyes cannot afford to ignore.
Then again, West Ham supporters have been here before—seduced by the arrival of continental flair, only to watch it wilt under the floodlights of the London Stadium. Pellegrini could prove the missing piece in a fractured side. Or, like so many before him, he could become another costly emblem of the club’s muddled ambition.
Main Image: — Travail personnel, via Wikipedia
