“He feels like a new signing” is one of football’s most overused phrases, but in the case of West Ham’s Luis Guilherme, I suspect we will be using it later rather than sooner.
Poor old Luis is in something of a no-man’s land at present. Towards the end of the transfer window, I wrote an article on these very pages explaining why I thought it might be prudent to loan out the 18-year-old. Nothing I have seen since has convinced me that I was wrong, as the Brazilian wonderkid continues to be completely anonymous at the club.
The much-heralded first signing of the transfer window finds himself in something of a West Ham limbo. It would probably have been too embarrassing for the club to loan out a player they had just paid 20 million pounds for; however, this is precisely what clubs like our next opponents, Chelsea, do.
It is common practice for big clubs in domestic and European football to purchase young overseas talent and then loan them out for a year. The list of players whom this has happened to reads like a who’s who of European football greats, so I’m unsure why the Hammers would leave Guilherme in a state of inactive perpetuity.
Guilherme is clearly deemed not good enough for Julen Lopetegui’s first team but possibly too good for the under-21s. As a result, the player seems to do nothing other than train, and it is notable that he his presence in pictures and footage provided by the club’s in-house media team has been much diminished.
West Ham’s winger has found himself in limbo
Guilherme inactivity is helping nobody
It can’t be a particularly good situation for the player mentally. By all accounts, he was courted by several very big football clubs but chose to sign for West Ham after being persuaded by Tim Steidten. Guilherme is a young man in unfamiliar surroundings, and I’m quite sure the one thing that would be familiar to him is playing football, yet he appears to be denied that pleasure currently.
My solution would be to get him into the under-21 team alongside compatriot Luizão, then loan him out in January. While I would be excited to see him named in the starting line-up or even warming up on the bench before making his debut for the first team, it’s just not going to happen.
West Ham have a £20 million asset on their hands and are showing huge inexperience in handling this type of situation. A brief glance at tomorrow’s Premier League opponents should hopefully be enough to show us exactly how to do things.
I’m sure lopetegui knows what he’s doing here . hel be learning more in training alongside the likes of Bowen kudus pacqueta Alvarez AWB etc than playing in the under 21 league .we Could even see him starting up at anfield During the week . He was always going to be introduced gradually . pretty sure hammers chat . done videos saying that exact same thing.
Well I don’t want to rub salt in the wound – but I cant let “Chelsea will show us exactly how things should be done” pass – I think that Chelsea with their excessive scatter gun approach to transfers, ruining good players and selling hotels to avoid PSR sanctions have in fact shown the rest of the PL exactly how things should not be done
Couldn’t agree more, we should have loaned him to a Portuguese club that would coach him well and develop him.
Also surprised we went for him instead of Wesley Gassova who looks a better player.
All good comments, I think time will tell, very cliche I know.
I can’t see the harm with having him on the bench and giving him 10-15 mins here there and gradually building from there?
He has no chance of rising to the top as long as West Ham maintain the “rest home” mentality. When they actually clear out those who are past their best, the young ones will at least have a chance of being on the bench and getting introduced to PL football.
I can’t remember anyone over the last 4 or 5 years at West Ham that have gone out on loan either senior or under 21 who have come back and been regulars in the first team, they always end up being sold on.
It’s pathetic pay 20 million to not even give him a chance in a game …wtf are they doing..its not like he is 16 ,, ffs teams are using 16 and 17 year old players each week ….some prem club brought a 17 year old on the other day in a televised gsme ????..Spain national teams are using a 16 year old to win euroes….absolutely ridiculous
…training is training…been liads of bad trainers over the years but on tye field totally diffrent …give the boy a fking chance
Why was my comment deleted?!
It wasn’t offensive.
Not deleted by me. This one,
“I’m sure L Jo and Co will have a plan for developing the lad. It’s not as though the Hammers bought him just to stop him going to a bigger club. Steidten will have assured him that he has a future at West Ham. Small steps! Small steps!” is still live.
The person you replied to has been binned.
Yep! That one.
Cheers Martin.