OPINION
West Ham were among the busiest of all the Premier League sides over the summer transfer window – and it is lucky they were considering their atrocious injury record.
The Hammers have been blighted by a number of short, medium and long term issues, all starting when Manuel Lanzini was ruled out for most of the season before the World Cup had even kicked off.
Things have only gotten a little better since then with the likes of Carlos Sanchez, Andy Carroll and Winston Reid all either having suffered, or are suffering, with serious issues.
Their luck has not improved heading into December with potentially the most significant, albeit not the worst, blow of all – Marko Arnautovic.
The Austrian is the Hammers’ talisman but as confirmed by Manuel Pellegrini, is set to sit out for a month with the hamstring injury picked up against Cardiff.
Speaking to Football.London, the Chilean boss revealed a hint as to what the Irons will have to do to deal with the injury setbacks coupled with the demanding Premier League fixture list, stating: “We have so many injured players in different positions. The young players that are able to play some more as well in the next games.”
With youngsters set for their chance to shine over the coming weeks, this surely means that a senior debut for summer signing Xande Silva is on the cards.
The 21-year-old winger has not been seen in the first team yet despite a blistering start to his under-23s career in east London due to – surprise surprise – an injury layoff which kept him out for two months.
Now he is back in action and carrying on from where he left off and considering he was said to have been close to the senior side before his injury, this must be his chance to shine.