Recent reports in France claim that during the summer West Ham, along with Liverpool, took an interest in Nice winger Allan Saint-Maximin, valued at £18m by Transfermarkt.
In a summer that saw Manuel Pellegrini land Andriy Yarmolenko and Felipe Anderson, as well as welcoming back Robert Snodgrass from his Aston Villa loan spell, did he really need another winger?
We’ve taken a look at the wideman’s start to the season in Ligue 1 to see whether he’d have been a worthwhile addition…
How’s he done so far?
After three league goals and seven assists last season, Saint-Maximin is yet to find the back of the net this season.
Like West Ham, Nice have only netted twice in their opening four league games and the winger scored one of those goals. He netted the winner in a shock 1-0 away win at Nice, to give Patrick Vieira his first victory as the club’s manager.
Elsewhere, he has been quiet and not helped by the fact that Nice have conceded five unanswered goals in their first two home games. However, his ability to create something in a spluttering team may well have been useful to West Ham at the moment.
Could he have added anything?
As mentioned above, Saint-Maximin’s ability to find a goal in a side that is finding its feet may well have been vital for Pellegrini in recent weeks.
Netting first could have been key against Wolves and Saint-Maximin could have been that man. Vieira, like Pellegrini, has had a bumpy start to his new job.
That said, the winger hasn’t set the world alight and shouldn’t be considered a huge loss, at this stage. However, he has enjoyed a better start to the season than Hammers new-boys Anderson and Yarmolenko.
Pellegrini will hope the expensive duo show their worth sooner rather than later.
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