According to a recent report from The Mirror, West Ham are looking to sign Chelsea’s Ross Barkley on loan in the January transfer window.
Per the same source, David Moyes remains determined that fresh legs are needed for the Hammers’ midfield since Jack Wilshere is still struggling with fitness issues and Carlos Sanchez has largely been out of favour.
Call yourself a West Ham expert? How much did each of these January signings cost?
For the time being, however, the Blues, who signed Barkley for £15m in January 2018, are refusing to part ways with their midfield ace as they are insisting he remains an important part of the club’s first team plans.
But looking at the player in question, it’s easy to see why exactly would David Moyes would be interested in Barkley.
After all, he was the one who helped the midfielder emerge from his cocoon back when they were both still at Everton.
When we take a look at his career statistics, it’s clear to see that he would bring a rather similar skill set to the Hammers’ own midfield star, Manuel Lanzini.
If we compare their all-time career stats, we can see that there’s little to separate the two midfielders.
It must be noted that all the stats were taken prior to West Ham and Chelsea’s fixtures against Everton and Newcastle respectively.
While both players forged their reputation in English football for their playmaking abilities, Barkley has undergone a transition at Stamford Bridge and developed into a more well-rounded midfielder who sits deeper than the number ten role he typically operated in at Everton.
Still, even with that being said, Barkley is currently averaging 86% passing accuracy as opposed to Lanzini’s 87.9%, which goes to show that both midfielders are equally trustworthy on the ball.
A similar situation can be seen with their offensive outputs. Barkley’s 1.3 key passes per game fall just short of Lanzini’s 1.4 key passes and the same can be said for his 1.9 dribbles per game, which are still not that far off his counterpart’s 2.3.
But interestingly enough, although they are also quite similar in their defensive contributions, Lanzini, the seemingly more attacking-minded of the two, edges Barkley out with one tackle and one interception per game compared to 0.8 and 0.4 per game from his rival respectively.
When everything is said and done, however, there’s not much between them.
The stats suggest Barkley would offer something similar to the Argentine technician, but it’s likely that Moyes’ nostalgic memories of a bulldozing, pulsating youngster will be the driving force if any deal is eventually concluded.
