Slaven Bilic appears close to completing his second signing of the summer, bringing in Middlesbrough right-winger Adama Traore, according to online bookmakers BetVictor.

The 21-year old former Barcelona youth player has solid Premier League experience and would add some speed and creativity to a West Ham squad that scored one or fewer goals in 24 games last season.

The Spanish youth international led the league in dribbles per game last season, averaging five across 27 league appearances. A move for Traore is an interesting one for Slaven Bilic as it would likely force him to move on better, more experienced players.

Last summer, right-winger Sofiane Feghouli joined on a free transfer from Valencia and, after initially struggling, showed improved form in the second half of the season. The 27-year old Algeria international didn’t score his first league goal until 14 January against Crystal Palace but contributed two more goals and assisted another pair after finally breaking his duck.

It would be disappointing for Bilic to move on from a player like Feghouli for Traore, who hasn’t really done much in his two Premier League seasons.

Traore moved to Aston Villa ahead of the 2015/16 season but struggled to break into the league’s worst side, making only 10 substitute appearances in the league and one in the EFL Cup. He did score his first English goal in that cup appearance and picked up two assists in the league, which was enough for Middlesbrough to keep him in the top division last summer.

At Boro, the winger registered only one assist in 32 appearances for the goal-starved club. Traore started 16 league games for Aitor Karanka and Steve Agnew and was substituted in seven of those. He is a very raw player and seems to be staying in the Premier League based on the reputation he developed at Barcelona, where he made his professional debut aged just 17.

He certainly has excellent dribbling skills, but his lack of an end product leaves a lot to be desired. Whether it’s his shot or final pass, goal creation is the aspect of Traore’s game that needs the most work. He clearly picked up some dribbling tricks training alongside players like Lionel Messi and Neymar, but his finishing looks more like Javier Mascherano's.

Still only 21-years old, Traore has plenty of time to develop and could prove a great signing for the Hammers and Bilic, but the Croatian hasn’t had a great track record of developing young players.

He has stunted the hype surrounding Reece Oxford and 21-year olds Ashley Fletcher, Edimilson Fernandes struggled for consistent playing time for the Hammers last term.

Perhaps Traore can break the trend.

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