Is West Ham’s RB Leipzig project starting with Hwang Hee-Chan interest?

With only five days left of the January transfer window, West Ham are desperately trying to bring a new striker to the London Stadium. David Moyes has made is perfectly clear that he is keen to strengthen our forward options after selling Sebastien Haller to Ajax but so far no striker has been brought in.

After 26 days of the transfer window and 50 different strikers, it seems as if Moyes might be getting in a new forward. RB Leipzig striker Hwang Hee-Chan is the latest forward to be linked to a move to East London and a move could be happening sooner rather than later.

According to Twitter page Kicker, West Ham are in advanced talks with Leipzig to sign the South Korean on loan for the rest of the season. The news outlet also said that a deal was expected to be completed this week.

Hwang hasn’t set the Bundesliga on fire by any means but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be a clever signing for West Ham.

Here are some positives and Negatives for signing Hwang Hee-Chan:

Positives

The South Korean forward has shown he can score and assist goals for fun during his time at RB Salzburg. In his last season in Austria, Hwang scored 16 goals and got 22 assists in all competitions according to Transfermarkt.

In any league, those are impressive numbers and it shows that the Leipzig forward has the qualities of a great player. With his assist numbers being particularly impressive, Hwang would also bring creativity as well as a goal threat.

While the player has poor numbers this season, Moyes is well known for changing the fortunes of players and getting the best out of them. He did it with Marko Arnautovic and Michail Antonio, so why not Hwang?

The Korean suits the mold of what Moyes is looking for in a player as Hwang is well known for his high energy and work rate. These are all key qualities that Moyes wants which would really benefit our team.

The structure of the deal is also a positive for West Ham as RB Leipzig want to loan out the player meaning that West Ham would only have to pay a small loan fee rather than a transfer fee.

This means that we would be able to test as to whether the player would suit our system and if Hwang then makes the desired impact, we would be able to buy him in the summer assuming there is an option to buy in the deal.

Negatives

Despite his good form in Austria, Hwang hasn’t been able to carry that over to the Bundesliga and has failed to score or assist in the 8 games he has featured in. Hwang hasn’t been given much of a chance to prove himself and has only started two of those 8 games but there still have to be questions asked as to why he isn’t being picked.

If Hwang is struggling in the Bundesliga, then it could be argued that the Premier League could be too much of a step up for the South Korean forward. West Ham need a second striker who can score goals as if the worst happens and Antonio gets injured, then we need someone who will be able to step up and lead the line.

Of course, you never know how a player will adapt to a different league and it could just be that Hwang Hee-Chan is going through a rough patch. Overall, it is a risky option as Hwang isn’t in good form at the moment but it could also turn out to be a steal if Moyes can help the Leipzig striker rediscover his spark.

The player has the qualities to be able to thrive in the league, its just a matter of whether Moyes can re-kindle Hwang’s flair and if he can adapt to English football.

If Moyes wants him then the club should get bring him in as he could prove out to be a smart signing for the Hammers.