Forget it Pellegrini – West Ham would dodge a bullet by avoiding this 31-year-old Copa America-winning midfield ace

Why Gary Medel is not the man for West Ham to solve their injury crisis

West Ham made multiple top quality signings over the summer including deals for important players like Felipe Anderson and Carlos Sanchez. But the start they made to the season wasn’t quite up to the expectations.

Over the last month, West ham have slowly begun to crawl back into form with the likes of Anderson and Robert Snodgrass coming to the fore.

They currently have multiple players out injured, with most of them being midfielders. Carlos Sanchez, Andriy Yarmalenko, Manuel Lanzini and Jack Wilshere are all out injured but they are players who can turn a game around on their day.

There are far too many midfield players in the Hammers’ ranks with Mark Noble, Grady Diangana and Pedro Obiang all fighting it out for the starting spots. Mark Noble’s experience in the middle has been key to West Ham for so many years now.

Gary Medel is a talented midfield player who currently plays for Turkish giants Besiktas. Having spent some time at the San Siro playing for Inter Milan, he has the experience and the know-how to make any team better. He has featured in the premier league before, playing for Cardiff City in the 2013/14 campaign.

His positioning and passing in the middle of the park enable him to control the pace of the game. While he is adept at carrying the ball forward, he is capable of some exquisite through balls from the midfield. He even represented Chile at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and was a part of the famous Copa America winning Chilean side that featured the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal.

With players like Chicharito and Snodgrass available for West Ham, Medel would be a great addition. But with so many top players in their squad already, this could turn out to be an unnecessary panic buy. Moreover, he is already 31 years of age and has been past his prime for a while now.

With some patience, all the brilliance that West Ham acquired over the summer will be fit and ready to produce 100% output. Yarmalenko and Wilshere were both doing a great job for the Hammers until they picked up injuries.

Read more: West Ham beating their London rivals to sign this Man United starlet would be a shrewd move by Pellegrini

While buying an extra midfielder to cover for the injured players is usually a good idea, a team that has 10 recognised midfielders in its ranks doesn’t have to make a hurried decision like this one.