OPINION
West Ham striker Xande Silva was reportedly the subject of a lot of interest last month.
According to Football.London, there were a number of Football League clubs who approached the Hammers about signing the 21-year-old centre-forward on loan at the end of August.
However it is understood that the Irons rejected the attempts to sign Silva on loan – but this was a huge mistake.
While Silva has been in fantastic form in the Under-23s since joining West Ham from Vitoria de Guimaraes for £1.8million in the summer, first team experience in simply invaluable and Manuel Pellegrini should have let him leave on a temporary deal.
Football.London adds that Pellegrini wants to keep a close eye on Silva’s progress, but with West Ham undoubtedly having a large scouting network and the accessibility to watching Championship clubs, monitoring the Portugal youth international would not have been hard at all.
Yes, Silva scored a hat-trick against Tottenham’s Under-23s and has also netted against the development squads of Manchester City and Arsenal, but a loan move to the Championship would have been much better for someone of his age because he needs to learn the English game quick if he is to ever get into West Ham’s senior side.
If Silva doesn’t get a first team appearance before January then he needs to be allowed to leave on loan because that could be the difference between a massive profit on the £1.8million they signed him for, or a huge loss.