West Ham Should Sign Ajax’s Jairo Riedewald

(L-R) Zakaria El Azzouzi of Sparta Rotterdam, Jairo Riedewald of Ajaxduring the Dutch Eredivisie match between Ajax Amsterdam and Sparta Rotterdam at the Amsterdam Arena on February 12, 2017 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images)
(L-R) Zakaria El Azzouzi of Sparta Rotterdam, Jairo Riedewald of Ajaxduring the Dutch Eredivisie match between Ajax Amsterdam and Sparta Rotterdam at the Amsterdam Arena on February 12, 2017 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images) /
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West Ham should sign Jairo Riedewald from Ajax this summer.

Jairo Riedewald is a dutch youth international with as far as this writer can see truly unlimited potential as a defensive midfielder. His style of play is somewhere between Jan Vertonghen and Fabio Cannavaro. If he turned out to be either of those players then it is something that West Ham would benefit greatly from.

Having come up through the Ajax youth system Riedewald looks poised for a move away this summer and West Ham would be the perfect landing spot for the young Dutchman.

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Can he provide for the Hammers?

Jairo Riedewald was at one point last season the hottest young property in European football. The spotlight has shifted mainly because that’s what spotlights do. At the moment he plays as a central defender for Ajax but his potential I believe to be further up the field. He has the ability to be something similar to Edgar David or Patrick Viera in this matter.

As a defensive midfielder he offers far more than either Kevin Noble or Pedro Obiang. I have said this a million times but what West ham’s defense is lacking is a strong technical player. Physicality and industriousness are incredibly important but you cannot forget the importance of technical ability and reading the game either. A perfect footballer is a good combination of all these things not a huge amount of one. Riedewald appears to be this very type of youth player.

With his game reading ability coupled with technique and strength there’s a good chance that the Hammers could begin to build a very strong team that is also good in possession. Right now the Irons lack that metronomic midfielder who controls the pace of the game. With Riedewald based in the defensive midfield role West Ham have a lot of potential going forward because his lateral passing is excellent.

West Ham should be trying to build for the top-6 and Riedewald is a player who can help that happen and could be very interested in a move to the Premier League.