Keiber Lamadrid became West Ham United’s third signing of the January transfer window last week. But as Lucas Paqueta prepares to swap the Premier League for Flamengo, who will be addition number four?
Charlie Cresswell remains the dream signing for most West Ham United fans. Right now, though, progress on a centre-half has been slow.
Keiber Lamadrid announced himself to the Hammers a week ago. The Venezuela international winger followed in the footsteps of Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe. The identity of January signing number four, meanwhile, appears likely to be either a new goalkeeper or a winger Nuno Espirito Santo knows very well.
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Which one walks through the door first, though, remains to be seen.
Karim Assafo, the agent of former Deportivo la Guaira forward Lamadrid, has been given an insight into the Londoners’ transfer plans during talks with the club over the last couple of weeks. Therefore, he knows that Lucas Paqueta is re-joining Flamengo.
He also knows that his client may find himself in direct competition with Traore, unless there is another pothole in the road regarding a transfer which was supposed to be done at the turn of the year.
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Traore’s signing brings experience and cover on both flanks.
Considering that Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville are currently the only natural widemen at the London Stadium – Luis Guilherme was sold to Sporting Lisbon – Assafo is confident in Keiber Lamadrid’s ability to force his way into the first-team picture, regardless of Traore’s arrival.
“Once he is on the pitch and training at the same level as his teammates, and the coach sees if he can help or not, it becomes interesting,” Assafo says on the Fernando Petrocelli y la Ruta Vinotinto YouTube channel.
“We have to wait, but really, we are the ones in the least hurry. We have already arrived at a place where they are observing and evaluating him.
“Neither he nor I can know exactly what will happen in two or three weeks. Football changes very quickly. Tomorrow or later this week, a winger might get injured. And they have very few.
“Right now, they are moving on from Paqueta, so they have one less. They are trying to bring in Adama Traore, who is known by the coach. If you look at the substitutions they made against Sunderland, they were position-for-position.”
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Karim Assafo thinks Keiber Lamadrid may be playing under Nuno Espirito Santo soon
While Callum Wilson came on in Saturday’s 3-1 victory, the veteran poacher was the only real attacker on Nuno Espirito Santo’s bench.
“They don’t really have wingers, only Summerville, who is a fast player and, for me, the best player on the team by far,” Assafo argues. “So, maybe they have a need and they will turn to Keiber. He is part of the team.
“I see it as part of the normal process.”
Some reports had suggested that West Ham were planning to field Lamadrid with the Under-21s. Assafo insists this could not be further from the truth, as a ‘top dribbler’ looks to make his mark in the Premier League.
“I want to be clear; He is signed directly for the first team. It is a six-month loan. He is not here for the second-team,” Assafo explains. “On Tuesday, he joins the first team for full training. From that point on, it’s up to him and what he produces to see if he gets called up for matches.
“Regarding the rumours about him playing for the Under-21 team, I don’t know who invented that. In the club, throughout the entire negotiation, they never mentioned that to me. He is here for the first team. Whether he plays or gets called up immediately is a different story.”
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