Should West Ham swoop for Liverpool wonderkid in January?

West Ham are certainly far from a perfect squad and being in the first year of a three year plan Manuel Pellegrini certainly has work to do making his team. Does a move for forgotten Liverpool starlet Divock Origi make sense for West Ham who need firing, young players?

Divock Origi returned to Liverpool this season hoping to kick on with his mother club after a successful loan move to Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. What happened in the time Origi left Liverpool was massive and changed the team Paradigm.

Dominick Solanke is the up and comer, Daniel Sturridge is healthy and scoring important goals for the first team, and the front three of Mane, Firmino, and Salah are viewed as one of, if not THE, most potent attacking crews in world football. Just like that, in one season, Origi is the odd man out.

It’s by no fault of his own, but Origi is a third choice striker on a team that rarely alters its team or formation. So far this season he’s been used in one senior team game, a Champions League match, where he saw 11 minutes. He also played in one U23 match where he scored and assisted another goal. With only two bench appearances and no game time in the Premier League, Origi certainly needs to get on the pitch more and Liverpool just doesn’t have the team that would allow for that.

Enter West Ham. I am convinced that Manuel Pellegrini’s plan includes a formation change that would shift the team to a 4-2-2-2, requiring two strikers – a big and a small – and Origi fits the bill here. The small striker has an active role, having to play off the target man, finish chances that fall to him in the box, and also drift into a #10 position in the build-up. West Ham’s current options are Chicharito and Lucas Perez; Perez cannot be relied on as a starter and Chicharito will likely be moved in January.

Origi played for Wolfsburg in 2017/18 on a loan and had an okay season. In 37 games he scored 7 goals while adding three assists. While not scoring at a torrid pace, Origi was on a lackluster team that eventually needed a playoff to avoid relegation. Origi scored 1 and assisted another in two playoff games to avoid relegation.

West Ham could pick up Origi on a discount come January, clearing space for Liverpool in their squad and giving them some funds, £10m-£12m, to reinvest as they see fit. The big issue comes with West Ham fighting off interest from Germany, his home last season, and Belgium, his birthplace.