West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini brought Albian Ajeti to the London Stadium for around £8 million from Basel in the summer.
The Hammers sold Marko Arnautovic, Lucas Perez and Javier Hernandez, whilst Andy Carroll left on a free and Jordan Hugill joined Queens Park Rangers on loan.
So West Ham were left very short up front, having only signed Sebastien Haller.
Ajeti was brought in to provide competition and cover for the Frenchman, but as yet, he has failed to make any kind of impact.
The Swiss ace, 22, has just 20 Premier League minutes to his name for West Ham thus far.
He played both of the Hammers’ Carabao Cup matches, but failed to impress in those outings.
Pellegrini clearly doesn’t trust Ajeti, and the Chilean must now realise that bringing him to east London was a real panic signing.
West Ham needed to appease their fans by signing a striker. Especially after moving on five forwards.
Big decision to make for Hammers boss..
Rather than spend big on a household name, however, they once again chose to penny-pinch. It could be argued that Pellegrini was never convinced by the Swiss hitman in the first place, as he clearly wasn’t one of the West Ham manager’s first choices.
Now Pellegrini has a beg decision to make. Does he keep Ajeti at the club and hope that he comes good? Or does he act ruthlessly, and try to move him on in January?
If the Chilean has conviction, and still has ambition to cut it at the highest level, it could be argued that he should really cut his losses on the Switzerland international.
The 22-year-old could, of course, turn things around, but the early signs are not good. And Pellegrini must shoulder the blame for that.
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