A big summer continues at West Ham United.
Last season, the Hammers endured a nightmare campaign, finishing 14th in the Premier League, sacking Julen Lopetegui after just 20 league matches in charge, albeit things didn’t improve very much after Graham Potter’s appointment.
Thus, Potter comes into the new campaign under pressure to deliver quickly, but his squad has, so far, been weakened during the summer, meaning the Irons need new recruits and fast.
West Ham United's search for a new midfielder
Both Lopetegui and Potter tried countless different central midfield combinations throughout last season, without ever discovering the winning formula, as the table below highlights.
Tomáš Souček
38
33
76%
Lucas Paquetá
36
28
69%
Edson Álvarez
31
23
54%
Carlos Soler
33
15
40%
Guido Rodríguez
24
16
32%
James Ward-Prowse
16
13
30%
Andy Irving
11
1
5%
As the table documents, Tomáš Souček aside, West Ham never landed on a reliable, every-game starting midfield, with a rotating cast of characters deployed during the generally dismal campaign.
In truth, the Irons have never replaced Declan Rice who, as outlined by Roshane Thomas of The Athletic, is one of the best players in the club’s modern-day history, so succeeding him was never going to be easy.
Well, as they search for their best midfielder since Rice, Dave Fraser of The Sun is reporting that West Ham ‘are set to battle’ Everton for the signature of Douglas Luiz, adding that both clubs are ‘desperate’ to bolster their midfield options.
The Brazilian international joined Juventus from Aston Villa for a reported fee of £42.35m only 12 months ago, but this move has not gone to plan, with ex-Juve player Alessio Tacchinardi stating that this transfer has been a complete “disaster”.
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Luiz made a miserly 27 appearances for la Vecchia Signora, featuring in just 17% of their minutes, hence why that aforementioned report notes that I Bianconeri are willing to sanction a permanent sale, so could he soon swap Turin for East London?
How Douglas Luiz would improve West Ham
Despite a nightmare campaign in Northern Italy, the reason Juventus signed Luiz in the first place is due to his excellent form at Aston Villa.
During five seasons in the Midlands, Luiz made over 200 appearances, with Adam Gilks stating that he’d become “one of the best sixes in the Premier League”, succinctly labelling him a “world-class” defensive midfielder.
He was awarded Aston Villa’s Supporters’ Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season in 2022/23, before arguably enjoying an even more impressive season the following campaign.
Jacob Tanswell and Mark Carey of The Athletic noted that he created more than 50 chances during the 2023/24 Premier League campaign, the most of any player at the club, praising his ‘influence’ over all facets of the team, citing Unai Emery, who stated that he is “progressing a lot as a midfielder… adding goals and… being demanding”.
So, would he really be the Hammers’ best midfielder since Rice? Let’s compare the pair to find out.
Goals
0.3
0.2
Assists
0.2
0.1
Shots
0.9
0.8
Chances created
1.6
1
Big chances created
0.3
0.08
Passes attempted
59.2
57.3
Pass completion %
89.36%
88.05%
Duels contested
8.7
7.9
Duels won
4.5
4.6
Tackles
1.8
2.2
Interceptions
0.7
1.8
Ball Recoveries
5.6
9.2
Touches
73.7
71.3
Average Sofascore rating
7.27
7.19
As the table outlines, when comparing Luiz’s final season at Villa to Rice’s last year at West Ham, it is the Brazilian who comes out on top pretty much across the board.
Luiz boasted better statistics when it came to all the attacking metrics, goals, assists and chances created, as well as all the passing numbers, while the out-of-possession statistics were admittedly more even.
Nevertheless, what is clear is that, in the right environment, Luiz is a top-class Premier League midfielder, so could a move to West Ham, which would see him back in claret and blue, revitalise both his career and the Hammers alike?
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