Sunday, December 9

Premier League

West Ham United

Pellegrini admits Wilshere was high risk but may have saved hefty investment

The midfielder has seen his playing time limited by injuries since his move from Arsenal.
By Matt McGeehan, | 6d

Jack Wilshere was a high risk for West Ham who has saved the club a potential £100million investment, boss Manuel Pellegrini says.

Wilshere returned from a three-month absence with an ankle injury as a substitute in last Saturday's 3-0 win at Newcastle and could feature in Tuesday's Premier League clash with Cardiff.

The 26-year-old joined West Ham on a free transfer at the end of his contract with Arsenal in the summer, following a 10-year spell with the Gunners which was blighted by long-term injuries.

"He was a high risk," Pellegrini said.

"We knew before he was not a player who would be available for every game, every week, but was a player of a quality that is not easy to bring to West Ham at a price we could afford.

"Maybe players of the quality of Wilshere at this moment can cost £100m, £90m, £70m. Good creative midfielders are very expensive.

"He wanted to play at West Ham, we took the risk and it has not been a good month for him but we have the second part of the season and I hope he will play most part of the games."

Wilshere has not been shy in outlining his ambition to return to the England reckoning. First he must return to the West Ham side.

Pellegrini added: "It is never hard for good players to get into the team."

The potential arrival of Samir Nasri at the turn of the year will only add to the competition.

Former France, Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder Nasri is training with the Hammers in a bid to earn a contract.

Nasri would not be available until January 1, due to a six month ban for receiving an intravenous treatment at a Los Angeles clinic in breach of the World Anti-Doping Agency's rules.

"The more good players we have the better we are going to play," Pellegrini said.

Nasri has been without a club leaving Antalyaspor of Turkey in January and has previously carried additional weight.

"For me the weight of the player demonstrates his mentality," Pellegrini added.

"You can't give an advantage in this profession, especially when every game is so tight. When every team has good players you cannot be overweight.

"I think that Samir will be at the end of the month the weight that we need him to be to be a professional player for West Ham. He is working hard and is absolutely convinced that he can do it."

Pellegrini also praised Robert Snodgrass for losing the weight required to revive his Hammers career.

The Scotland midfielder spent last season on loan at Aston Villa in the Championship and Pellegrini, on his appointment as Hammers boss, told Snodgrass to lose weight if he wished to show his commitment to the cause.

The Chilean said: "There were very few words that I spoke with him at the beginning of the season. I gave him some demands about his weight, about his work.

"He's a very professional player. He's doing it very well because he had desire to be here."

amp_article_343290 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2018-12-04 12:05:32:
html db last update - 2018-12-09 10:02:56 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html

Click here for more stories about Manuel Pellegrini

Click here for more stories about West Ham United

Share this article now:

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!
Loading ...
Recommended Next on SM
Palace, West Ham in battle to sign Dack?
Result: Real Madrid go fourth by beating Huesca
Man City, Dortmund 'watch Reece Oxford'

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Select and display your favourite team's news and scores in this panel
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1613303462842
2Manchester CityMan City1613214593641
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs16120430161436
4Chelsea16104233132034
5Arsenal16104235201534
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd167542826226
7Everton156542117423
8Bournemouth167272526-123
9Leicester CityLeicester166462120122
10Wolverhampton WanderersWolves166461719-222
11West Ham UnitedWest Ham166372325-221
12Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton166371922-321
13Watford156271821-320
14Cardiff CityCardiff1642101530-1514
15Newcastle UnitedNewcastle163491322-913
16Crystal Palace1633101323-1012
17Burnley1633101532-1712
18Huddersfield TownHuddersfield1624101027-1710
19Southampton161691330-179
20Fulham1623111640-249
Scroll for more - Tap for full version

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Select and display your favourite team's news and scores in this panel
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1613303462842
2Manchester CityMan City1613214593641
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs16120430161436
4Chelsea16104233132034
5Arsenal16104235201534
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd167542826226
7Everton156542117423
8Bournemouth167272526-123
9Leicester CityLeicester166462120122
10Wolverhampton WanderersWolves166461719-222
11West Ham UnitedWest Ham166372325-221
12Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton166371922-321
13Watford156271821-320
14Cardiff CityCardiff1642101530-1514
15Newcastle UnitedNewcastle163491322-913
16Crystal Palace1633101323-1012
17Burnley1633101532-1712
18Huddersfield TownHuddersfield1624101027-1710
19Southampton161691330-179
20Fulham1623111640-249
Scroll for more - Tap for full version
X

We value your privacy

A part of our GDPR compliance we need to ask for your consent. We and our partners use technology such as cookies on Sports Mole to personalise content and ads, provide social media features, and analyse our traffic. Click below to consent to the use of this technology on Sports Mole.