On Monday, West Ham moved to strengthen their attacking options with the club-record signing of Ghana international Andre Ayew. The 26-year-old moves from fellow Premier League side Swansea in a deal worth £20.5 million, and has penned a three-year contract, with an additional two-year option.
Speaking to the club’s official website, Ayew revealed how he’s looking forward to working under Slaven Bilic, and is keen to reunite with Hammers playmaker Dimitri Payet:
“He was a very big part of me joining the club. He is a manager who has wanted me for the past few years and today I’m lucky to play under him… (On Payet) He’s a friend of mine as we played two or three years together at Marseille. I know him and he knows me and I’m happy to be back playing with a great player like him, because I know what he is capable of doing.
Bilic, meanwhile, is expecting the new arrival to settle in seamlessly:
“Yes [I expect Ayew to make an instant impact], I mean a lot of players make it straight away, and some need a little bit of time to adjust. His first big advantage is that he played in a big, big club like Olympique Marseille, he’s an international and is captain of Ghana and is at his best stage. He’s already spent one year in the Premier League so it’s nothing new for him. Sometimes wingers, strikers or offensive midfielders need a bit of time, while centre-backs are centre backs and are just doing their job and don’t depend on the team that much. The players are good in that they really make new players feel at home after a few days, so I’m sure we can expect some good football from the newcomers straightaway.”
The History
Ayew started out his youth career with German side 1860 Munich, where his father, Abedi Pele, regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time, was playing at the time. At the age of 10, Ayew moved to his father’s homeland, Ghana, and spent seven years at Nania, where his father is the club chairman.
In 2006, at the age of 17, Ayew made his way to Marseille and didn’t take long to make an impression – having spent just one season with the youth team, he was handed his professional debut in August 2007 in a 2-1 defeat to Valenciennes.
To further aid his development, Ayew spent loan spells at fellow French teams Lorient (three goals and one assist in 22 league matches) and Aries-Avignon (four goals and three assists in 25 appearances) between 2008 and 2010.
By 2010, Ayew was ready to star for Marseille, and over the next five seasons, he would establish himself as one of Ligue 1’s top performers, while he also gained plenty of European experience. In 207 matches in all competitions for the club, he scored 60 goals and provided 25 assists.
Last summer, Ayew moved to Swansea City on a free transfer, and enjoyed a successful campaign with the Welsh side, ending the season as the club’s top goalscorer with 12 goals in 34 league matches, while he also chipped in with five assists.
Despite having dual French and Ghanaian citizenship, Ayew decided to represent the birth country of his father. He made 12 appearances for Ghana Under 20s, scoring four goals, before making his senior debut against Senegal in August 2007. He currently has 67 caps to his name, and has scored 11 times for his country.
The Prospects
As West Ham Joint-Chairman David Sullivan alluded to, the Ghanaian has the capability to play in all four attacking positions in the 4-2-3-1 formation, a system regularly favoured by Bilic last season.
Bilic also utilised a 4-3-3 on occasion but in either set-up, Ayew’s ability to thrive as both an inside forward or “false nine” bodes well for his pitch time.
Of Ayew’s 34 league appearances for Swansea last term, 18 of those came on the right wing, yielding five goals and one assist, while in his seven matches through the middle, he scored an impressive six goals and added a further three assists.
With Enner Valencia and, in particular, Diafra Sakho appearing out of favour under Bilic, the versatile Ayew could offer an alternative to Andy Carroll as the Hammers’ centre forward.
Intriguingly, Ayew registered more headed attempts on goal than any midfielder in 2015/16, with new team-mates Cheick Kouyate and Antonio ranked second and third respectively, which underlines his potential from Payet and Sofiane Feghouli’s crosses.
Coming in at 7.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), Ayew looks favourably priced when compared to the likes of Payet (9.5), particularly if Carroll continues to be plagued by injuries as he has done over recent seasons, allowing the Ghana international to play as the lone striker and offer some out of position potential.
Ayew and Payet were identical for points (171) last year, though the latter’s average of 5.7 points per match, compared to the new boy’s 5.0, suggests he will remain the Hammers’ main man this time around.
The chances are that Ayew will be used in the central support role behind Carroll in a 4-2-3-1, with Payet playing off the left flank as he did for much of last term. Feghouli’s impressive pre-season form should see the Algerian start on the right, although Manuel Lanzini and Gokhan Tore will also compete for pitch time, particularly around Europa League matches.
It certainly looks as if Michail Antonio will be the club’s first-choice right-back this season, though.
While Ayew isn’t blessed with exceptional pace or trickery, it’s his tendency to find space in the penalty area that makes him such an important attacking player. An ability to score goals in whatever forward position he plays makes the new boy an appealing Fantasy option and with the likes of Payet supplying the creativity, the Ghanaian’s chances of reaching double figures for goals once again appear bright.
Although the Hammers face tough trips to Chelsea and Man City over the opening three Gameweeks, it’s worth noting they scored twice in the corresponding fixtures last year. Home matches against Bournemouth and Watford during the opening month heighten their prospects of Fantasy points.
The Ghanaian got off to a flying start last season, scoring three times in his first four matches, including a goal on his debut at Stamford Bridge – ironically where West Ham kick off their campaign this time around.
After getting plenty of minutes under his belt during pre-season, Ayew has the opportunity to hit the ground running once again and emerge as a standout mid-price option for our five-man midfields.
