If West Ham Want Michail Antonio 2.0 Revive Perennial Link

With Sebastien Haller out the door at West Ham, David Moyes should pursue the perennial link for the Antonio-like Mali striker in Portugal.

Sebastien Haller’s playstyle didn’t suit West Ham’s gameplan under David Moyes, but it may just have been a side effect of Michail Antonio’s renaissance season after lockdown last year. With opportunities aplenty and positional competition literally nonexistent, Haller’s transfer was telegraphed by Moyes for months on end.

Speed, power, the ability to hold up play solo, and cohesion with the counterattack. These are the traits that West Ham’s lone striker Michail Antonio possesses and these are the traits that David Moyes is clearly looking for in Haller’s replacement.

Internet blogs and phony ITKs have done all the work for Moyes, thought, as the perfect candidate for this position has already been identified by them for years on end. It’s finally time for West Ham to actually pursue Moussa Marega from Porto, the Mali version of Michail Antonio.

Tongue-in-cheek comment about both Antonio and Marega’s finishing aside, the 29-year-old Mali striker has had a solid and underrated career with Porto, building consistency and success off his muscular frame, pure speed, and hold up play. Sound familiar?

As mentioned, Marega is 29 so he isn’t a Red Bull type youngster, however, after the strong start to this season Marega is the type of player who needs no development and could step into this team to help push for European football immediately.

In twenty matches this season Marega has seven goals and four assists across Liga Nos league action and Cup play with Porto. This includes a goal and two assists in five Champions League matches, too. This winning experience would be welcomed in the Hammers’ changeroom, possibly inspiring and unlocking a winner’s mentality.

At 6′ tall and 183lbs, Marega is a lean, muscular attacker who creates opportunities for himself with his speed but integrates his teammates as well by being able to hold off defenders by himself. Everything said here including his height and weight (5’9″ and 181lbs) can be said for Michail Antonio as well.

Marega is in the last six months of his contract and with Porto always looking for young, up-and-coming players, Marega’s tenure with the Portuguese giants could be coming to a close in June regardless of a January transfer. David Sullivan loves a big name player with a potential bargain transfer, so why not Marega?

David Moyes could get the best out of him, deploying him exactly how he uses Antonio in the current system. Finishing will always be an issue with Marega, but we’ve all excepted the inconsistency of Antonio’s shooting abilities as he rounded into form last season. Why not go for the carbon copy of Antonio in Moussa Marega, at least the bogus transfer links will finally stop!