Why West Ham should consider a move for Ramires in January

After asserting his authority in the Premier League over the course of six seasons and winning every major domestic and European trophy with Chelsea, Ramires is currently one of the forgotten names of South American football.

The 31-year-old Brazilian shifted base to the Chinese Premier League with Jiangsu Suning back in January 2016 following six seasons at Stamford Bridge.

Ramires, who featured in all of Brazil’s seven games at the 2014 World Cup, was overlooked by Tite for the 2018 World Cup.

However, the hardworking and tenacious Brazilian has lost none of his usual energy and hunger to compete at the highest level. Ramires has been a regular for the Chinese outfit and scored as many as 12 goals in 34 appearances last season, including four goals in the AFC Champions League.

Quite clearly, he is far from a spent force and still has a lot to offer in any of Europe’s top five leagues.

To put things into perspective, West Ham should use their financial muscle to lure the Brazilian back to the Premier League. The Hammers haven’t quite lived up to the expectations this season and Manuel Pellegrini has to dip into the transfer market to bolster his squad.

West Ham currently sit 13th in the Premier League standings with 12 points from 13 games, something that should be a major cause of concern given that they spent a fortune in the summer transfer window.

Pellegrini signed as many as nine new players in the summer but West Ham’s campaign has been hit to a large extent by recurrent injuries to several of their key players, including a few of the summer arrivals.

Andriy Yarmolenko’s Achilles injury is set to rule him out for the remainder of the season while Jack Wilshere, who joined the east London outfit on a free transfer, has found himself on the sidelines more often than not.

Another summer arrival, Carlos Sanchez has also been ruled out for the season while Pedro Obiang and Mark Noble have both been in and out of the team due to injuries.

Consequently, Pellegrini hasn’t been able to find a settled eleven so far in the Premier League. The injuries to Sanchez, Wilshere and Obiang has rendered the manager short of quality options in the midfield. Youngster Declan Rice has done exceedingly well for the Hammers this season but there hasn’t been anyone to complement the 19-year-old in the heart of the midfield.

And that is exactly the reason why West Ham should try to bring Ramires back to the Premier League in January. Blessed with plenty of tenacity and energy, the Brazilian will be the perfect man to partner Declan RIce in the middle.

Ramires is not only a technically-gifted midfielder that West Ham are in dire need of but the 31-year-old is also likely to add a lot of value to the midfield with his experience. His superior game-reading, anticipation, agility and tackling will be invaluable to a team like West Ham.

Someone like Ramires is also likely to bring a lot to the team in terms of the attack. The Brazilian is exceptionally quick and has a good acceleration for a central midfielder, which will make the Hammers a potent counter-attacking force. Furthermore, his immaculate passing and remarkable vision are likely to add substance to a rather subdued midfield.

That said, West Ham should definitely consider a move for this Premier League veteran in January as the Brazilian still has plenty of fuel left in his tank.