da betsul： According to a recent report from The Daily Mail, West Ham are one side interested in a move for Everton midfielder James McCarthy. The 28-year-old has been playing his football at the Premier League outfit since leaving Wigan Athletic back in 2013 to thus reunite with former manager Roberto Martinez, although a lack of regular game time under current boss Marco Silva this term has called his future at the club into question.
da poker： And reports suggest that Manuel Pellegrini’s Hammers, as well as Claudio Ranieri’s Fulham and Darren Moore’s West Brom, are eyeing up a January move for the Republic of Ireland, yet his recurrent injury woes in years gone by should prompt the East London club to forget about him and instead target his Everton teammate Morgan Schneiderlin.
The Breakdown
Ultimately, 28-year-old McCarthy has spent much of the last 12 months out due to injury, with knee and hamstring injuries thwarting the first half of his 2017/18 season, only for a broken leg to end that campaign prematurely in January and indeed so far restrict his chance of appearing this time round as well.
As such, it means that the Irishman has managed just four Premier League appearances for Everton in the last 12 months to suggest that maybe he isn’t quite at the level needed to make an immediate impact at the London Stadium – after all, he would be being brought in to ease the workload as a result of an injury crisis, which demands that he can hit the ground running.
And that seems like too big a risk to take given it will likely take time for him to get up to speed, whereas teammate Schneiderlin is another who while is down the pecking order at Goodison Park does have much more football under his belt in recent times than McCarthy.
The France international started well upon arrival at Everton in January 2017 only for things to tail off during the 2017/18 season, ultimately culminating in the midfielder struggling for game time this time round under Silva with no Premier League start since September.
However, one mustn’t forget just how integral he was to Southampton during his time there between 2008 and 2015, with his efforts in the Premier League in his final three years at the club particularly impressive in underlining just how good a central midfielder he was – there’s no reason why he can’t get back to that level.
In fact, Schneiderlin was arguably one of the most impressive midfielders in the top-flight during his time at St Mary’s hence Manchester United paid big money to sign him in 2015 – yes, things haven’t quite been as good since then for the 29-year-old, but there is clearly a hugely accomplished midfielder in the Frenchman.
Significantly, he’ll likely be able to hit the ground running a lot sooner and more effectively than teammate McCarthy were he to move to West Ham, which is why the Hammers must opt against the Irishman and instead target ex-Southampton star Schneiderlin this month.
West Ham and Everton fans… what do you think? Let us know!