West Ham continued their summer of restructuring last week with the acquisition of Algerian international winger Sofiane Feghouli under freedom of contract.
Arriving at the Olympic Stadium on a three-year deal from Spanish outfit Valencia, the 26-year-old revealed he turned down a number of teams after discussing his future with Hammers boss Slaven Bilic:
“I’m really happy the choice of West Ham. After meeting with leaders and coaches, I studied the offer from West Ham and the sports project. It was a pretty easy choice. It has become a first choice from the moment I spoke with Slaven Bilić. He showed a real interest in me. The club, the Premier League, the history of West Ham supporters – all this meant that I did not hesitate. The club play in Europe next season. They come out of a beautiful season with a team that has great spirit, the fighting spirit of the English. The coach put his mark on the team. This is a club that is on an upswing with the new Stadium, and which targets good recruitment. All this convinced me.”
The History
Born and raised in France, Feghouli started his career with Ligue 2 side Grenoble after being knocked back by Paris Saint-Germain.
Handed his debut as a 17-year-old in the 2006/07 campaign, Feghouli nailed down a starting role the following year and scored three times in 26 league outings as he helped his side gain promotion to the French top tier.
Feghouli produced four assists in 26 outings in his first season in Ligue 1 but managed just five appearances the following year due to a serious knee injury.
Snapped up by Valencia in the summer of 2010 as the club regrouped following the sales of David Silva and David Villa, he struggled to make an immediate impact in his new surrounds. Feghouli featured just three times for the Mestalla side and was loaned out to Almeria, where he netted twice in nine La Liga appearances.
After the departure of Juan Mata the following summer, Feghouli was afforded the chance to impress and subsequently nailed down a regular role over the next four seasons, producing 19 goals and 32 assists in 122 league matches. He fell out of favour last year, though, and made just 13 starts, with eight appearances off the bench, registering just one goal and an assist as a toiling Valencia finished six points ahead of the bottom three.
Over the course of his time in Spain, he produced 31 goals and 40 assists in 202 appearances across all competitions.
Despite playing five times at youth level for France, Feghouli made his senior debut for Algeria in February 2012 and has since gone on to notch 11 times in 40 internationals.
The Prospects
Having failed to live up to the early promise that drew comparisons with Zinedine Zidane, Feghouli has a chance to reignite his career under Bilic after that disappointing final year at Valencia.
Previously linked with the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United, Feghouli has pace to burn and his trickery and acceleration down the flank is certain to torment many an opposition full-back.
The downside, though, is the inconsistency that blighted his game last term in particular, with Feghouli accused of going missing too often in matches. He’s also not short of off-field issues and was excluded from the Valencia side for the final six fixtures of 2015/16 after getting on the wrong side of new manager Paco Ayestaran.
With Dimitri Payet nailed-on in the final third, it remains to be seen what impact Feghouli’s arrival will have on Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio’s pitch time.
Antonio was mainly stationed at right-back or right wing-back in the final few matches of last season and a potential move into defence for the former Forest man would be a bitter blow to Fantasy managers, given his eye for goal. In saying that, Bilic may well be loath to move Antonio deeper next term and will surely look to afford winter signing Sam Byram more opportunities to shine in defence.
Much depends on Bilic’s tactics. If West Ham line up in a 4-3-3, Payet is guaranteed the left flank role, leaving a real scrap for the spot on the opposite wing. Feghouli is versatile enough to play in any slot across the attacking midfield three roles if Bilic rolls out a 4-2-3-1. Having started his career as a central playmaker with Grenoble, he was moved out to the left flank, though was mainly utilised down the right during his stint in Spain.
The Hammers boss has shown he’s not afraid to mix it up and even opted for a three-man backline on occasion last year – in such a scenario, there’s even the possibility of both Antonio and Feghouli both lining up on the right flank if they switch to 3-4-3.
Delving into the data, a shot every 57.2 minutes last year – which was slower than Payet, Lanzini and Antonio – perhaps highlights why the Algeria international has never scored more than six times in a league season. In terms of creativity, it’s a different story – Feghouli supplied a key pass every 48.4 minutes last term, quicker than all West Ham midfielders aside from Payet.
It seems inevitable that Payet will continue to be the main man but we can expect a significant price rise to around 9.5 – 10.5 for the Frenchman after he racked up 171 points in 2015/16, with an average of 5.7 points per appearance bettered only by Riyad Mahrez in the centre of the park.
By comparison, the likes of Antonio, Lanzini and Feghouli should come in around 7.5 and considering that West Ham netted 65 times last term – just six less than top scorers Man City – they have the potential to offer excellent value alternatives or even double up options. Arguably, Antonio, if he reprises his role on the right wing, could be the most appealing – he converted 14.8% of his chances despite playing in a withdrawn role in the latter part of the campaign.
Looking at the fixtures, Bilic’s side certainly have the chance to play their way into our plans. According to our Season Ticker, the Hammers have the most favourable run over the opening 11 Gameweeks – aside from trips to Chelsea and Man City in the first three matches, their remaining fixtures over that period (BOU, WAT, wba, SOT, MID, cpl, SUN, eve, STO) look very conducive to Fantasy returns.
