West Ham United boss David Moyes has explained why Flynn Downes has rarely played for the Irons since his transfer. He has also revealed the midfielder has now suffered an injury.
The 24-year-old moved to the London Stadium last July for £12m and agreed to a five-year contract worth £32k-a-week. But Downes has only featured for 1,053 minutes so far across 23 appearances in all competitions. Moyes has further only started him in 11 of his games.
Just four of his starts have also come during Premier League games alongside eight outings from the bench. Downes has spent more top-flight fixtures as an unused substitute with 13 so far than he has featured in. His outings further only average 4.4 full 90-minute matches.
Flynn Downes suffered an ankle injury as West Ham beat AEK Larnaca
Instead, Moyes has handed Downes 476 of his 1,053 minutes during West Ham’s games in the Europa Conference League. He appeared in the Irons’ two qualifiers with Viborg FF for 28 minutes. He has since started in five of his six subsequent appearances for 448 minutes.
Downes enjoyed his latest start and enjoyed a full 90 as the Irons beat AEK Larnaca 2-0 on Thursday. But Moyes has told football.london that West Ham’s former England U20 talent suffered an ankle injury during the second half of their last 16 first leg encounter in Cyprus.
David Moyes explains why Flynn Downes has rarely featured in claret-and-blue
Moyes let Downes play the full 90 minutes at AEK Larnaca despite his injury knowing West Ham would be without the midfielder for their second leg. He received a yellow card in the 68th minute that brings a one-match ban. It was his third caution in the competition so far.
The West Ham manager also wanted Downes to get as many minutes as possible as Moyes wants to find opportunities. But the Scot also feels the midfielder he signed from Swansea City has traits he needs to work on. While the step up from the Championship can be hard.
“We’re trying to give Flynn the opportunities at the right time,” Moyes admits. “We’re pleased with what he’s doing [but] we think there are things he can improve on.
“But it’s not easy breaking into the Premier League from the Championship and if you look at the people who’ve done it, it can take a bit of time. We hope he continues to develop and we’re happy for him.”
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