West Ham United midfielder Pedro Obiang has joined Italian side Sassuolo for a fee of around £7.2 million, as per Sky Sports.
Obiang joins the likes of Edimilson Fernandes, Marko Arnautovic, Lucas Perez, Samir Nasri, Andy Carroll, Sam Byram, and Adrian to see the exit door this summer.
The Premier League side will need a replacement, and it remains to be seen if they will make their move for Gary Medel, a player they were linked with in January, and earlier this summer. Medel currently plays for Turkish side Besiktas, having joined the club from Inter Milan in 2017.
The Chilean has just a year remaining on his current contract with Besiktas, and could be signed with the money the Hammers have received for Obiang.
Medel has prior Premier League experience, having played for Cardiff City in the Premier League in the 2013-14 season.
The 31-year-old is an experienced midfielder who has played 125 times for the Chilean national team, while also playing for top clubs in Europe like Sevilla and Inter Milan. Medel made 35 appearances for Besiktas in the 2018-19 season.
Would Medel be an apt replacement for Obiang?
The Chilean midfielder is a hard-tackling, tenacious midfielder who is a great insurance cover for the backline, screening the defence with his energy, work-rate, and his tackling.
Medel won an average of 2.2 tackles in the league last season, while also making an impressive 2.5 clearances on average per game.
The midfielder is also a good passer of the ball, who keeps it neat and tidy with good short passing, completing an average of 88.7% of his passing and 52.4 average passes per game in the league last season.
The Hammers have quite a few options in midfield, which includes Declan Rice, Mark Noble, Carlos Sanchez, who can all play the defensive midfield role that Medel could be used for, while Jack Wilshere is an option in central midfield.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side do not have the urgent need to replace Obiang as they have several players in the squad for the central midfield role.
They should instead look to add another striker to the team as they currently only have new signing Sebastian Haller, and former Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez to fill the striker’s role.
Should they get Medel for a fee of around €3.75 million, which is his market price, it wouldn’t be a bad purchase, however.
