Paul Merson has claimed that West Ham made a serious mistake in the summer transfer window by selling midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate.
Talking on the Sky Sports show The Debate, he claimed they have too many luxury players and said that Kouyate is a massive loss for them.
“If there was one player last season that could get around the middle of the park and hurry people up when they didn’t have the ball it was Kouyate, who has gone to Crystal Palace. And he only went for about £8m which is nothing.
He was the one person who’d go and engage and try and get the ball back. When you watch them now and they haven’t got the ball they haven’t got anyone who can get around the pitch. They are an easy team to play against at the moment.”
Kouyate, who had been at West Ham since 2014, where he made 147 appearances, was sold to Palace in the summer.
OPINION
Many West Ham fans were happy to see Kouyate go but Merson thinks that West Ham may well have thrown the baby out with the bathwater this summer. They’ve brought in some quality players, there’s no doubt about it, but something needs to change quickly after a terrible start of four consecutive losses. Merson went on to say that he worries about West Ham this season and seems to think that Kouyate could have made the difference. We’re not so sure about that. Kouyate didn’t play well for West Ham this season and he’s not getting a game at Crystal Palace at the moment. They might need someone who can add ballast to the side and who will win the ball back and get about the pitch, but Kouyate wasn’t that man. We think West Ham have been unlucky so far this season. The players have yet to gel but they’ve been creating chances, just not putting them away. When they get the rub of the green they should be fine.