LIVE
...

Follow us on

Soccer Transfer News

AC Milan’s Diego Laxalt deal should leave West Ham very disappointed

Arfa Griffiths/West Ham United via Getty Images
Follow us on Google Discover

West Ham United reportedly wanted to bring Diego Laxalt to the Premier League – but he’s an AC Milan player now.

Diego Laxalt of Genoa during the Serie A match between Genoa CFC and FC Torino at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on May 21, 2017 in Genoa, Italy.

When on song, there aren’t many more exciting full-backs around than Arthur Masuaku. Skilful, quick and most definitely in the ‘buccaneering’ category, the Frenchman was one of the unsung stars of the 2017/18 Premier League season.

As many West Ham fans will tell you, however, Masuaku isn’t quite so competent going the other way. A cruise liner could have sailed through the gaps he left on the left in West Ham’s 4-0 opening day defeat to Liverpool and this is not the first time the former Olympiakos man was exposed against quality opposition.

So there’s a real sense that The Hammers have missed a trick as Genoa’s Diego Laxalt signs a four-year deal at AC Milan.

According to Calciomercato, the Uruguayan will cost the Serie A giants a fee somewhere in the region of £16 million. This comes just a month after Tuttomercatoweb claimed that West Ham had expressed an interest.

France's forward Kylian Mbappe (L) and Uruguay's defender Diego Laxalt vie for the ball during the Russia 2018 World Cup quarter-final football match between Uruguay and France at the...

Laxalt may be a winger by trade but he showed during Uruguay’s run to the World Cup quarter-finals that he thrives where Masuaku frequently fails. The South American is an excellent defender, a tigerish and typically Uruguayan player who will do everything to avoid getting humiliated by a bright-eyed winger.

And he could have been the sort of signing that would put an end to these 4-0 thrashings.

Diego Laxalt of Genoa opposed to Bartosz Bereszynski and Dennis Praet of Sampdoria during the serie A match between UC Sampdoria and Genoa CFC at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on April 7, 2018 in...