Slaven Bilic made his first defensive signing since taking up the mantle at the Boleyn Ground, landing Juventus centre-back Angelo Ogbonna last week. The 27-year-old defender – who’s been capped 10 times for Italy – arrives on a four-year contract for a fee believed to be in the region of £8.5 million.
In an interview with the Hammers’ website, Ogbonna cited Bilic’s appointment as key to his decision:
“I am very pleased to have joined West Ham United. I spoke with the coach and he has given me the opportunity to play in the Premier League. That was always my dream and now I am very happy to be doing this. I knew about Slaven and that he is a good manager. Before he joined West Ham he was coach of Croatia and I know what he can do for his team. I saw his team in action and know that he plays attacking football. He has a great attitude and wants to win.”
The History
Ogbonna started out at his local club, Cassino, before joining Torino’s youth team in 2002. He earned his first start for il Toro in the 2006/07 campaign, notching a further four appearances before teaming up with Serie C outfit Crotone on a one-year loan deal that summer, mustering 22 outings.
Ogbonna returned to Torino for the 2008/09 season, recording 11 starts as the Turin-based club were relegated to the second tier of Italian football. The six foot three inch centre-back – who was named as club captain in August 2010 – cemented a regular starting berth during Torino’s three seasons in Serie B, tallying one goal and one assist in 102 appearances. Ogbonna chalked up 22 appearances in his final injury-stricken campaign at the Stadio Olimpico, having gone under the knife during the Christmas period.
The defender made the controversial switch to rival Juventus in the summer of 2013. Despite playing second fiddle to Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli in central defence, he managed to rack up 14 starts in his debut campaign with the Old Lady by virtue of squad rotation. Ogbonna played a more prominent role in the 2014/15 season, tallying 25 appearances (18 starts) as the Serie A giants were crowned champions for the fourth year in succession.
Ogbonna made his senior debut for the Azzurri in a 2-0 friendly win over Poland and has since gone on to earn a further 10 caps. His last start on the international stage arrived in a 2-2 draw with Nigeria back in late 2013.
The Prospects
Ogbanna seems set to nail down a starting berth in the Hammers’ XI as Bilic attempts to improve their fortunes in the post-Sam Allardyce era. Discussing his new acquisition with the West Ham website, the Croatian – a former centre-half himself – clearly holds Ogbonna in high regard:
“I am thrilled with the signing. He is a really good player and is a great defender. He was at one of the best clubs in the world with Juventus and we are really delighted he has signed for us. The expectations are big of course. We now have the numbers and the quality at the back. We really need the competition and strength (in the defence) which is one of the most important areas for the whole season.”
Ogbonna’s arrival looks likely to knock James Collins further down the pecking order in the heart of the back-four. It may well be that the Italian international partners Winston Reid for the season ahead, though James Tomkins has certainly strengthened his case for inclusion over the summer, scoring in two of the Hammers’ Europa League matches, including the winner against Maltese outfit Birkirkara last night.
Considering that he’s bagged just one goal in 201 career outings, Ogbonna – who’s priced in line with Reid and Tomkins at 5.0 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game – offers little in the way of attacking potential. The former Juventus defender attempted ten shots over 1,758 minutes last term, which equate to an attempt every 175.8 minutes – quicker than Reid (241.3) and Collins (222.4), though some way behind Tomkins’ impressive 108.9 minutes per goal attempt.
Nonetheless, Ogbonna’s top-level experience could strengthen the Hammers’ rearguard as a whole and improve their defensive prospects. Certainly, the west London outfit need to better their record from the previous campaign, in light of the fact that only three teams registered fewer clean sheets than the Irons’ nine. On the plus side, West Ham ranked seventh in terms of goals conceded (47), proving that the foundations are solid.
In terms of attacking potential from the back, then, Aaron Creswell will likely remain the prime route into West Ham’s backline. Aside from carding two goals and four assists, the emergent left-back ranked second – behind Branislav Ivanovic (11) – for shots on target (nine) over the season. In addition, no defender that fashioned at least ten shots last term bettered his shot accuracy (47.4%), while only three defenders engineered more chances (34) for their team-mates. The downside, of course, is that Cresswell is priced at 5.5 in FPL and may be seen as too expensive for some right now.
A predominantly favourable start to the new campaign for Bilic’s men could see them begin strongly. Certainly, whilst trips to Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City in Gameweeks 1, 4 and 6 respectively aren’t conducive to shut-outs, the Hammers are left with a raft of enticing fixtures up to Gameweek 9 (LEI, BOU, NEW, NOR, sun, cpl), which should prove more profitable.
