Sam Allardyce started his summer spending earlier this week with the acquisition of Razvan Rat from Ukranian champions Shakhtar Donetsk on a free transfer. The Romanian left-back arrives on a one-year deal, with West Ham having the option to extend the 31-year-old’s contract to two or three years..
The Hammers boss was understandably thrilled with the deal, as he looks to strengthen his defensive options for the season ahead. Speaking to the club’s official website upon completion of the transfer, Allardyce enthused:
“I’m hugely happy that we’ve got a player of his experience and his character. He’s been playing Champions League football this year and at the highest level for many years. Shakhtar had offered him a very good contract, but his ambition was to come and try his abilities and skills in England. When you hear somebody speak so positively about that, then you know they’ve got the mental character that’s needed to do well in this division. We certainly know he’s got the ability and he’s at an age where he’s still capable of producing at 31.”
The Statistics
Rat’s career began in his homeland at the age of 17 for Rapid Bucharest in the 1998/99 season. He spent a total of five years at the club, producing four goals from 82 appearances, though also brief six-month loan spell at Romanian club FCM Bacau during 2000/01, where he notched twice in 14 games.
In the summer of 2003, he was snapped up by Shakhtar and has spent the last 10 seasons in the Ukraine. Working mainly under Mircea Lucescu, his former Rapid Bucharest boss, his time there has proven hugely successful and has harvested 15 trophies – Rat scored just six times in the league, though his creativity from the flank has provided at least four assists in each of his last three seasons. As well as plenty of experience in the Champions League stage, he’s also turned out for his country on 88 occasions and scored a single goal.
The Prospects
There’s no doubt a player of Rat’s calibre will be installed immediately into the Hammers starting XI, with Allardyce handing him a key role in his starting line-up as he looks to build on last term’s tenth placed finish. With George McCartney spending most of the previous season on the sidelines, Joey O’Brien was mainly fielded on the left of the back-four, allowing Guy Demel to nail down a slot the opposite flank but the latter two now look set to battle it out for the right-back berth in the season ahead – a real worry for Fantasy Football Scout cult hero, Demel.
Having racked up 11 clean sheets last time out (six at home, five away), Allardyce’s backline can be expected to rise in price as one of the most reliable defences around. Both O’Brien and Demel started 2012/13 at 4.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) but a shift to 5.0 for the pair and Rat looks far more realistic, while Jussi Jaaskelainen could even come in at 5.5, due to his save point appeal.
While such a scenario would price the Hammers stopper out of our thoughts, Rat may well offer us a slightly cheaper alternative route into the Hammers defence, with his assist potential, in particular, bolstering his appeal. If Fantasy games are swayed by the Romanian’s experience and price him similarly to Jaaskelainen, though, the Finnish stopper’s save point potential would surely dent the new boy’s prospects and force us to turn elsewhere for out five-man defences.
Further Reference
Razvan Rat Wikipedia
Razvan Rat Statistics
Razvan Rat West Ham Interview
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