OPINION
While West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini’s desire to beef up his midfield isn’t a bad one in and of itself, he’s off the mark with his pursuit of Besiktas utility man Gary Medel.
Turkish outlet Milliyet claimed recently that the East London outfit had a seven-figure bid worth £6.5million rejected for the 114-cap Chile international.
The Turkish giants are in serious financial trouble, but they are refusing to sell Medel on the cheap, and the Hammers will have to come back with an improved offer if they are to secure the veteran player.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini is said to be desperate to bring the former Cardiff City man in to add some defensive bite to his midfield with Carlos Sanchez out with a long term injury.
However, Medel is the wrong man to provide that bite. At 31 years of age his best days are behind him and he’d be, at best, a stop gap solution for a club that should be more ambitious than that.
His time in the Premier League with the Bluebirds was completely underwhelming, and there’s nothing to suggest that he’d perform much better years later.
Yes, he’d be playing with better players, but a leopard doesn’t change its spots and Medel showed that he wasn’t cut out for English football.
For all the money that West Ham have and for the calibre of player they brought in in the summer, it seems that a move for Medel would be ill-fitting.
The Hammers should be looking for better than the Chilean, and they can get better than him. Morgan Schneiderlin at Everton, for example, is an out of favour player who would provide some steel in the middle of the park for Pellegrini’s team.
It’s good that Pellegrini is looking to strengthen in the middle of midfield, but Medel simply isn’t the right man for the job. West Ham should accept Besiktas’ rejection and move on to alternative targets before they make a big mistake.