West Ham United manager David Moyes was given the chance to sign Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek but instead, he chose to sign Alex Kral.
The Hammers have brought in the 23-year-old from Spartak Moscow on a season-long loan deal but according to broadcaster Alex Crook, they had the chance to land the Chelsea misfit on deadline day.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Crook exclusively revealed: “Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who of course was out on loan at Fulham last season, was offered to West Ham.
“They said no. They were offered the chance to sign Ruben Loftus-Cheek, he stays at Chelsea.”
Many would think that this might be a poor decision from the West Ham United boss since Ruben Loftus-Cheek would have been a much safer signing.
But this is the biggest progress West Ham have made under Moyes, they don’t go for safe anymore.
Last season, Kral was absolutely outstanding for Spartak and as per Fotmob, he had an average rating of 7.08 across 29 league matches.
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Ruben Loftus-Cheek, on the other hand, was pretty average for Fulham, scoring just once in 32 appearances.
It makes much more sense to invest money in someone like Alex Kral and since this is just a loan deal, West Ham United do not have too much riding on this arrangement either.
As far as Ruben Loftus-Cheek is concerned, the arrival of Saul Niguez pushes him further down the pecking order and now he has no other option but to be a benchwarmer at Chelsea for at least the first half of the season.
Alex Kral is primarily a central midfielder but can also double up as a CDM meaning he can act as a cover for Declan Rice.
