In recent weeks, reports from the Italian press have linked Juventus star, and Italian International striker, Fabio Quagliarella, with a move to West Ham United. Quagliarella has also been linked to Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion, but is this deal right for the club?
Quagliarella is 30 years old, and has played in Serie A for the whole of his career. He has played for Torino, Ascoli, Sampdoria, Udinese, Napoli before moving to his current club, Juventus. It’s fair to say that he is not the most prolific of strikers, but is no doubt better than what we have at the club at the moment as far as goal contributions come. Quagliarella has 25 Italian International caps, and has 6 goals to his name.
I’m not sure that Quagliarella is what the club need at the moment, especially after the signing of Stewart Downing. He is a striker who fits into a formation where 2 strikers are picked, or if it is a 3 man attack, he would occupy one of the wide positions, somewhere where we now have some cover in Joe Cole, Downing, Jarvis and Vaz Te (although Vaz Te looks to be leaving the club soon). What the team is crying out for is a second striker who can play the role we bought Andy Carroll for. Maiga got mixed reviews at the weekend, Allardyce chose to praise him for his performance, but fans remain unconvinced. So where will Quagliarella fit into our system? Personally, I don’t see where.
The other issue I have with this deal, is the quoted price. £2m just to loan the player for the year, and then a permanent transfer next summer for £6m. It’s a lot of money for a club like West Ham to shell out on a player who has no sell on value. At the age of 30, as a professional footballer, his best years are going to be behind him, and he will start to slow. I think that there are probably going to be better options available, and I think the club should wait and see what happens, leading up to the final weeks of the transfer window!