[ad_pod ]
This article is part of Football FanCast's Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba's haircuts to League Two relegation battles...
Jordan Hugill has left West Ham United on loan.
The striker has joined QPR until the end of the season, dropping back down to the Championship as he looks to reignite a career that has gone stale in recent seasons.
Signed for £10m by the Hammers when David Moyes was manager, Hugill has been an unmitigated disaster of a signing for the Irons.
He has played a total of three games and has failed to score a single goal. That works out at £3.3m recurring per game for a player who never once appeared comfortable in east London.
To drill deeper, one sees that Hugill played a total of 22 minutes of football for the Hammers. A £10m investment for 22 minutes of football works out at £454,546-per-minute. That’s £7,576-per-second, and we aren't even mentioning his wages.
Indeed, to look at his statistics is to see a striker who has struggled in the Championship, never mind the Premier League, and it really brings into focus how appalling a deal this has been for the Hammers.
He remains on the books and will return at the end of the season if QPR decide against buying him and, let’s be frank, the signs aren’t good.
In the second-tier, Hugill scored 29 goals in 137 games, at a rate of 0.2 goals-per-game.
That is quite simply atrocious. At Middlesbrough last season, Hugill netted seven times in 41 outings. He has only ever hit double figures for one club – Preston – where he netted 30 goals in 114 games. That’s a rate of, again, 0.2 goals-per-game.
Moyes revealed to the Daily Mirror on Monday that the reason for Hugill’s signing was cover.
Watch West Ham United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
He said: “Our plan was to go in and work with the players we had and get them through the season. We brought in one centre-forward, Jordan Hugill, to cover Andre Ayew and Diafra Sakho, who had gone [in the January window]."
He was brought in to add depth to the striking department but one has to believe that he was not thoroughly scouted.
Indeed, if Hugill added anything, it was genuine embarrassment. He has been one of the worst signings in the club’s recent history.
They had better hope QPR take a shine to him and ultimately rid the Irons of their burden.
[ad_pod ]