Vangelis Pavlidis has now scored in 10 successive Eredivisie games amid interest from Premier League outfit West Ham United in the AZ Alkmaar striker.
The sight of Michail Antonio being shrugged off the ball by a man 12 years his junior – dominated by Jarrad Branthwaite as Everton triumphed at the London Stadium – did little to dispel the nagging feeling that West Ham’s number nine is a man past his best. No longer capable of leading the line for a club with top-half ambitions.
Antonio has not scored in any of his last seven Premier League games. And, with his 34th birthday approaching, it is perhaps a little naïve to expect Antonio to bully and batter top-flight defenders into submission these days, overshadowed by both Ollie Watkins and Dominic Calvert-Lewin as David Moyes’ side suffer a third defeat in a row in all competitions.
Antonio’s form, meanwhile, is in stark contrast to that of the man who could yet take his place as Moyes’ go-to number nine.
West Ham United eye Vangelis Pavlidis
According to 90Min, West Ham are running the rule over AZ’s Vangelis Pavlidis. The silky Greece international is in the form of his life, scoring for the tenth straight Eredivisie game before Sunday’s clash with NEC Nijmegen was suspended amid concerns over the health of fellow striker Bas Dost.
In fact, Pavlidis has a remarkable 14 goals during that run, including a hat-trick against Heerenveen last week.
The former Willem II frontman, all feints and finesse, joins former Swansea, Manchester City and Vitesse Arnhem ace Wilfried Bony in the history books, per Opta. Score in his next four league matches, meanwhile, and Pavlidis will equal a record set by the legendary Johan Cryuff all the way back in 1974.
14 goals in 10 games
But can Pavlidis’ Eredivisie form be translated into one of Europe’s major leagues? If he another Luis Suarez or Ruud van Nistelrooy, amid West Ham’s interest? Or the second coming of Afonso Alves?
It’s fair to say Kenneth Perez, formerly of Ajax and PSV, has his doubts.
“I always remain conservative with Pavlidis about how good he actually is,” Perez tells ESPN. “It also depends on the competition we are talking about. If he plays in the Netherlands for the rest of his life, he will be a very good striker.
“I don’t know (if he can be as successful elsewhere). If I had twenty million euros (£17 million), I wouldn’t buy him.”
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