West Ham made their first signing of the summer ahead of the World Cup in Rio, bringing some South American flair to East London in the form of Argentine hit man Mauro Zárate last week. The 27-year-old former Lazio and Inter man arrives on a free transfer from Argentinian top flight outfit Atlético Vélez Sársfield on a reported three year contract, having finished the 2013/14 season as the league’s top scorer:

Inspired by former Hammers favourite Carlos Tevez, Zárate revealed his excitement at following in his compatriot’s footsteps, and his ambitions for the coming seasons:

“Carlos is a fantastic player and a fantastic person, I hope I can become as big a favourite at this club as he was… I hope I will play good football and reach the highest possible level. I am very confident I am going to succeed here.”

A recognised striker, with the pace and technical ability to operate from the flanks or behind the target man (as his number 10 shirt would suggest ) Zárate’s arrival at the Boleyn Ground could prove significant in our Fantasy thoughts ahead of the new season.
 

THE HISTORY

The new Hammers striker will come as a familiar face to the Premier League faithful who will have seen him don the blue of Birmingham City while in England on loan back in 2008. The-then 21-year-old clearly demonstrated enough to warrant further interest – netting four goals and an assist in his brief loan spell in the Premier League – not to mention catching the eye of Serie A big boys Lazio, who snapped him up the following season.

Zárate’s form in Italy was somewhat questionable, however. After a promising debut campaign in Rome which saw a young talent notch 16 goals in 41 appearances, the Argentine stuttered, failing to breach double figures in all competitions in his following two seasons at Lazio despite racking up 42 and 36 appearances in respective seasons . Worse was still to come, though. In his solitary season on loan at Inter Milan, a return of three goals in 31 appearances for the Nerazzurri saw him return to Lazio a fringe player – bowing out of Italy with a single league appearance in the 2012/13 season, he headed back to Atlético Vélez Sársfield in July 2013, the club where it all began.

Things certainly picked up in Argentina. The Golden Boot Award was secured courtesy of 18 strikes in just 29 league games, comfortably eclipsing his previous best of 16 in 32 for the same club in the season which secured his first trip to Europe’s big leagues.

Though Zárate’s goalscoring record raises questions over his ability at the top level, it is worth noting the player’s ability to tee up chances for others. In his 126 appearances for Lazio, Zárate provided almost as many goals for his team mates as those he buried himself. At Inter he was, relatively speaking, even more generous with three assists to match his three goals , though if we consider game time in Milan, he averaged just over 45 minutes per match, making his returns slightly less underwhelming. In fact, while his strike rate dropped massively in Europe, the gap between Zárate’s minutes per goal involvement (m/gi) don’t differ so greatly when compared with his form in South America.

Europe
Birmingham: 613 minutes, four goals, one assist. 123 m/gi
Lazio: 9383 minutes, 34 goals, 28 assists. 151 m/gi
Inter: 1444 minutes, three goals, three assists, 240 m/gi
Total 11440 minutes, 41 goals, 32 assists, 157 m/gi

South America
Vélez: 5799 minutes, 37 goals, six assists. 135 m/gi

THE PROSPECTS

Irons manager, Sam Allardyce was keen to back the arrival of his new striker, suggesting that Zárate’s guile and speed will bring a new dimension to his side’s attacking play:

“He is a different type of player to what we have already got, which is what we have been looking for for a while… He is small and sharp and quick and has got good feet, so hopefully he can give us another dimension for what we don’t have in the squad at the moment.”

While Big Sam purrs over the acquisition of guile and precision that he’s been missing for some time, Zárate’s presence may have serious implications for some of West Ham’s most attractive Fantasy Premier League (FPL) options. In a game where security of stats is a major factor, former midfield stalwart Kevin Nolan and emerging starlet Ravel Morrison (both of whom commanded significant interest at various points in the 2013/14 FPL season) could find themselves vying for minutes with Zárate as the three compete for a chance to play off Andy Carroll.

Nolan has proved time and time again that taking up positions off Carroll can bear fruit, frequently converting chances created by the Hammers’ target man inside the opposition’s penalty area but has come under criticism from the Upton Park faithful due to a lack of overall contribution, while Morrison’s unpredictable nature frustrated Allardyce to the point of finding himself in the Championship on loan at QPR for the second half of the season.

The likelihood then, is that Allardyce will maintain his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, with Matt Jarvis and Stewart Downing continuing to provide the width, Andy Carroll leading the line and Mauro Zárate pushing Kevin Nolan onto the periphary as he looks to nail down the role in “the hole”. Beyond that, the Argentine offers Allardyce some much sought flexibility in the final third. His ability to play in almost any attacking role could see him cover either wing, pair up with Carroll in a 4-4-2, or see him used as an outright forward should Carroll pick up another injury.

Certainly, with the Hammers owners ordering Sam Allardyce to find a more offensive approach after another barren season in front of goal, the installation of Teddy Sheringham as new attacking coach may force us to re-assess their key assets in 2014/15. Discussing Sheringham’s appointment, Big Sam seems confident that his side could be set for an upturn in fortunes in the final third of the pitch.

“Teddy was interested in coming into coaching at this stage so we’re obviously glad to have him on board to give us a new outlook on how we are working with our attacking players. We hope he can give some individual expertise and one-on-one coaching with our attacking lads to hopefully help us to score a few more goals.”

FURTHER LINKS

Mauro Zárate West Ham Interview
YouTube Highlights: Vélez 2013/14
Wikipedia – Mauro Zárate
Mauro Zárate Transfermarkt Performance Stats