Summerville’s admission suggests West Ham are planning for exit

Crysencio Summerville’s settling in period at West Ham has been made tougher by the young Dutchman’s hamstring injury.  A frustrating period under Lopetegui with the winger unable to get much match time seemed to have been ended with the arrival of Graham Potter: A first start lasted only 45 minutes before he limped off in January and  hasn’t been seen since.

His close friendship with a couple of Hammers team mates, Mohammed Kudus and Aaron Wan Bissaka has developed and helped him to deal with the frustration, according to nytimes.com/athletic, which also offers the welcome news that he may make a return before the end of the season.

However, remarks which Summerville made to whufc.com are quite telling and suggest he is being developed with a very specific role in mind:

“… a coach from Leeds United wanted me to play as a number ten more, and our coach [Graham Potter] wants me to be more of a left winger and be the best one-on-one player, so I think I have learned a lot of things from different coaches.”

Which suggests he’s being prepared for Mohammed Kudus’ left wing position at West Ham should the Ghanaian, as is being widely reported, be sold to Al Nassr in the summer. Kudus has featured 20 times as a left winger – more than any other in his last 50 appearances. (footballcritic.com)

Lopetegui did struggle to get Bowen, Kudus and Summerville into the same starting eleven but with Summerville pencilled in as a left winger, it seems Potter’s future planning is in hand to use Summerville on the left and Bowen on the right if Mohammed Kudus’ days as a Hammers come to an end this summer.