The West Ham United manager is a big fan of the Besiktas midfielder.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic sat down for an interview with Turkish sports media outlet Turkish Football, and sang the praises of Besiktas midfielder Atiba Hutchinson, suggesting that the Canadian could be even better than Chelsea star N’Golo Kante.
The Croatian signed the 34-year-old when he was in charge of the Turkish outfit back in 2013, and is obviously still a keen admirer of the defensive midfielder.
The experienced star has enjoyed a highly accomplished career thus far, with 77 international caps for Canada to his name.
Despite the Besiktas man’s advancing years he possesses all the attributes that would make him a success in the Premier League, which makes Bilic’s decision to sign Gokhan Tore in the summer of 2016 all the more puzzling.
Hutchinson is incredibly strong and athletic, with an impressive engine. He gets up and down the pitch, and has a huge influence on both the defensive and attacking sides of his team’s game.
And Bilic highlighted just how good he believes the 34-year-old is, when speaking to Turkish Football:
Atiba Hutchinson in action for Besiktas
“Perhaps Atiba is even better than Kante. Atiba is the most consistent player, he has been the rock of Besiktas for four years, provides balance and keeps the balance. He plays the same role as Kante but they have a few differences. Kante rarely makes a passing mistake, I actually think he has the capability to create assists as well if he wants. Kante loves to intercept balls, Atiba is the same.”
The West Ham boss made no suggestion of an impending move for the Canadia, however, so he obviously feels he has Kante-like players at his disposal already in the form of Mark Noble, Pedro Obiang and Cheikhou Kouyate – *cough*.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
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