West Ham United loaned out Toni Martinez on deadline day in January.
West Ham United are safe in the Premier League for another season, and now the attention will turn to summer signings who can help prevent another relegation battle next season.
A new striker may be on the wish list given questions over the future of Andy Carroll, and whilst Jordan Hugill was signed in January, his lack of action has caused bemusement amongst fans.
One player who hasn’t staked his claim for playing time next season is Toni Martinez, who was loaned out to Real Zaragoza in his native Spain on deadline day in January, just as Hugill was arriving from Preston North End.
The 20-year-old has been a hot prospect in the West Ham development setup since a 2016 move from Valencia, and fans were far from happy when the Hammers loaned him out.
As seen in this HITC article, West Ham fans were outraged by the decision to send Martinez away, feeling that he was primed to make an impact for the first team but instead he was being farmed out to the second division of Spanish football.
So far, Martinez has yet to justify that outrage. The striker has been given just two starts for Zaragoza, making an additional six substitute appearances in what has been a disappointing loan spell.
In fact, Martinez has scored just the one goal but somehow accrued five yellow cards in just 193 minutes of action, summing up just how underwhelming his performances have been.
That means that Martinez is unlikely to be in the first-team reckoning for West Ham next season, and fans may now feel they need to re-assess their opinion of the striker they seem to rate so highly.
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