‘Spectacular’ exiled Hammer finds his feet at last

There hasn’t been much good news on the radar these last few days at London Stadium, with West Ham back on the training pitch, licking their wounds and recovering with much head-scratching after the loss against Brentford. The team have a bigger challenge in the shape of Arsenal away on Saturday so no doubt the ‘hard work’ continues and Graham Potter will do his best to change the formation and selection mistakes that led to such a turgid performance.

Further afield, it could be a little light on the horizon for one unhappy Hammer who has spent the last couple of seasons underperforming. Finally out on loan where he is getting game time, Hammers’ winger Maxwell Cornet has landed on his feet and – no doubt – got great satisfaction from staying fit long enough to feature for Genoa in Italy’s Seria A.

Not only did he get onto the pitch as a 73rd minute substitute for Junior Messias, but Cornet ‘curled in a spectacular goal’ in the last ten minutes to ensure the 2-0 win over Venezia, according to Football Italia Cornet didn’t make the squad for the previous game after complaining of a muscle problem – so it was good to see him recover enough to make his mark.

The hope for West Ham is that he will be able to maintain fitness and force his way into head coach Patrick Viera’s starting line up: Putting himself in the shop window can only be beneficial to the Hammers who are still forking out the bulk of his £55k a week wages.

Any whiff of a sale and West Ham would leap at the chance to offload Cornet who must be one of the Irons’ least successful signings in recent years.

Hopefully his progress in Italy will develop into an eventual permanent move away: Any amount received will be very gratefully received to offset the £17 million fee which has long since been written off after West Ham invested in the Burnley forward under Moyes.