This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
According to Spanish publication El Desmarque, West Ham are interested in signing Real Madrid winger Lucas Vasquez.
What’s the word?
The Spain international has fallen out of favour at the Bernabeu this season, making just eight appearances in total across all competitions, with only 275 minutes of football in La Liga under his belt.
Now, El Desmarque claim that a move away for the 28-year-old is likely, with Madrid president Florentino Perez keen to ship him out in the upcoming January transfer window.
The report adds the forward will leave for the Premier League, with West Ham currently considered the favourites to win his signature – however, aside from Manuel Pellegrini’s side, both Newcastle and Wolves are understood to be interested in making a move too.
Revival
Vasquez’s career at Madrid has been a tale of a dramatic decline. The Spaniard made an incredible 53 appearances for the club as recently as the 2017/2018 campaign in which they defeated Liverpool in the Champions League final. Despite not coming off the bench for the showpiece game, he was a prominent member of that squad during their road to a third successive European triumph, playing in ten games.
But now, even with Zinedine Zidane’s return as manager, things have turned far more bleak. Los Blancos are in somewhat of a rebuild following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2018, and the transfer window gone by saw them bring in Eden Hazard. And if that wasn’t enough to further restrict Vasquez’s chances of first-team football, younger talents like Rodrygo are stealing the limelight too – the Brazilian bagging a hat-trick in mid-week.
Joining West Ham would give Vasquez the chance to revive his career under Pellegrini, and prove Madrid wrong for wanting to force him out of the club. Whilst he is not the most prolific of wingers (he has scored just 38 times in 298 career appearances), his versatility proves he is a team player, who is willing to sacrifice his own game in order for the entire group to succeed.
He has played at right-wing, right-midfield, right-back, left-wing and left-midfield, and it’s that dedication to the cause that could see him really grab the mantle at the London Stadium were the Hammers to make a swoop for him.