Omar Elabdellaoui is exactly what Manuel Pellegrini’s Premier League hopefuls West Ham United need right now.
It is no secret that West Ham United’s options at right-back are a little stretched.
34-year-old Pablo Zabaleta is strolling through the leaves as he enters the autumn of his career, the Argentine having announced his intention to retire at the end of the season, and The Hammers don’t really have a long-term replacement beyond Ryan Fredericks.
But, according to Sportime, West Ham are among a number of Premier League sides who sent scouts to Piraeus on Sunday night as Olympiakos played host to AEK Athens and there is one man on the team sheet who stands out a mile given the lack of options available to Manuel Pellegrini on the right-hand side.
It is no secret that Omar Elabdellaoui is out of contract next summer. The Mail claimed recently that Leicester City, Aston Villa, Celtic, Burnley, Watford and Bournemouth have all been keeping tabs on the 27-year-old club captain and Olympiakos have a decision to make.
Do they sell the Norway international on the cheap in January or let him go on a free at the end of the season? With West Ham sending scouts to Greece over the weekend, it would be little surprise if another Premier League outfit have just joined the race for a defender who has previously represented Manchester City and Hull. He’s certainly a player that the Hammers should be looking at.
At the age of 27, Elabdellaoui is at the peak of his powers and he’d offer the kind of mobility and attacking thrust that Zabaleta, in his final few months as a professional, simply cannot offer any longer. Fredericks, meanwhile, has improved in the last 12 months but he has not exactly silenced the doubters.
Elabdellaoui played the full 90 minutes as Olympiakos beat AEK 2-0 at the Karaiskakis Stadium, a result which puts them two points clear at the top of the Greek Super League after eight games.
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