West Ham has already been hard at work this summer, with new manager Julen Lopetegui overseeing a huge squad revamp, as they prepare for the upcoming Premier League campaign playing a new brand of football.
Exciting forward line acquisitions have already been made, with former Leeds United winger and Championship POTY Crysencio Summerville joining, alongside the young talented Brazilian, Luis Guilherme, and veteran forward, Niclas Füllkrug.
But the Hammers don't look set to stop there in their attempts to bolster the squad and improve on their 60 goals scored last season, looking to ease the goal-scoring and chance-creation burden of Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen.
West Ham transfer news
According to reports via TheWestHamWay, West Ham have enquired about the highly-rated Juventus winger, Federico Chiesa. Another club showing interest is London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, who are also looking to sign the Italian.
An intermediary, David Lavelle, recently stated: "I think he could find a chance at a couple of Premier League clubs and I can say that we have some requests for a left winger from Fulham, who would be willing to pay, and from West Ham."
The 26-year-old is reportedly "out of Juventus' project" under new manager Thiago Motta, according to Fabrizio Romano, alongside a host of other players, as Juventus look to revamp their squad for the new manager.
Chiesa made 37 appearances in all competitions for Juventus last season, providing three assists, and scoring ten goals across 2,512 minutes played.
Chiesa and Fullkrug as a partnership
The Hammers have added a veteran goalscorer to the squad this summer in the shape of Fullkrug from Dortmund, who made 46 appearances last season, scoring 16 goals and providing ten assists.
Adding a "special" player and creator, as dubbed by Max Statman – an expert in Italian football – would give Fullkrug even more chance of succeeding at West Ham, providing him with more chances to score, and players around him to link up with.
Non-Penalty Goals
0.33
Assists
0.08
xAG
0.25
Shot-Creating Actions
4.79
Shots Total
3.03
Shots on Target
1.02
Progressive Passes
2.87
Progressive Carries
4.55
Successful Take-Ons
1.43
Key Passes
2.21
Crosses into Pen Area
0.74
Chiesa is a top-level creator, who has a variety of tools to use off of both flanks. Being right-footed, he can cut inside from the left wing, using that high shot volume, averaging 3.03 shots per 90, 1.02 of which are on target, and scoring 0.33 goals per 90.
He can then mix things up, go on the outside, and produce chances for others, averaging 4.55 progressive carries, 1.43 successful take-ons, 2.21 key passes and 0.74 crosses into the penalty area per 90. That final metric, Chiesa ranks in the top 1% among wingers in the top five European leagues.
This would go hand in hand with a player like Fullkrug, who stands at 6 foot 2, and is a target man type striker. Fullkrug wins 3.49 aerials per 90, and Chiesa's ability to put crosses into the box, and find him with creative passes, would allow the big German to maximize his qualities.
Fullkrug is also good at holding the ball up, to link play and bring his other forwards into play, as seen by his 0.26 assists per 90, and 2.28 progressive passes per 90, which would allow Chiesa, as well as West Ham's other talented forwards to bounce play off him, and find themselves in dangerous areas around the box.
Chiesa could prove to be the correct amount of creation and variation, in order to get the most of their new veteran talisman and improve their overall goal tally this upcoming season.
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