David Moyes was never going to throw Alex Kral in at the deep end.
But, nearly six months after his arrival on from Spartak Moscow, the West Ham United midfielder has hardly even dipped his feet into the Premier League pool.
Thus far, Kral has played less than a minute of top-flight football, his one and only appearance a cameo outing off the bench in the closing stages of December’s 4-1 thrashing of Watford.
As far as debuts go, Moyes handing the Czech Republic international a few seconds of action at Vicarage Road felt like little more than a belated Christmas present rather than a show of trust in his poodle-haired benchwarmer.
Perhaps even more worryingly, Kral hasn’t even featured all-that regularly in the cup competitions.
He started just one of West Ham’s six Europa League group-stage games and was left out of recent cup clashes with Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United.
West Ham have the option to sign Kral permanently in June for £12 million. At present, you’d get better odds on the Hammers selling Declan Rice to arch-rivals Spurs.
Does Alex Kral have a future at West Ham?
“The coach and I realise that I gradually have to get used to the pace and style of play we want to play,” Kral admitted in October.
“After all, it’s something different. For example, at Spartak, we played three defenders, here mostly four. I need to know more about the system, the players.
“I need to get used to training. (The sessions) are more intense. It’s something new, I just need to adapt.”
Three months on, Kral is no closer to securing a place in Moyes’ first-team plans.
In fact, you could argue that he’s further away than ever before.
Reports from Russia suggesting that West Ham are weighing up a move for Dynamo Moscow’s Daniil Fomin, meanwhile, don’t exactly bode well for Kral’s hopes of a Carlos Teves-style revival in East London.
Pedro Aquino, Danilo and Boubacar Kamara, three more midfielders in the Kral mould, have also been linked recently.
Two years ago, West Ham jumped at the chance to sign Tomas Soucek on a permanent basis following six superb months on loan at the London Stadium.
It looks increasingly unlikely that history will repeat itself with another Czech Republic international.
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