“West Ham’s SHOCKING Transfer Coup: Meet the JAW-DROPPING Young Star Set to OUTSHINE Kudus!”
Graham Potter’s preferred system, showcased during pre-season matches in the UK and the Premier League summer series, revolves around three central defenders with wing-backs.
New signing Diouf and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have been utilised in those wide roles.
In this formation, traditional wingers are largely redundant, as the wing-backs serve a dual function: driving forward in attack and tracking back defensively.
As a result, Jarrod Bowen has often been deployed in an ‘inside right’ or central striker role—whether ideally suited to it or not.
This setup also raises questions over how natural wide players like Crysencio Summerville, once fit, or Luis Guilherme could fit into Potter’s plans.
Some observers suggest Potter might be taking a page from David Moyes’ playbook, converting wingers into strikers—much like Moyes did successfully with Marko Arnautovic.
This makes West Ham’s reported interest in Liverpool’s teenage winger Ben Doak all the more surprising.
Doak is undoubtedly talented, even tipped as a potential “Mohammed Kudus 2.0,” but Potter’s system doesn’t call for out-and-out wingers. That leaves the question: how would the 19-year-old Liverpool Academy graduate be used?
Multiple reports in recent days confirm the Hammers’ interest is genuine. Yet, with transfer funds limited, committing over £20 million to a winger seems questionable when midfield reinforcements are a far greater priority.
Labelled yesterday as a “Bowen understudy,” Doak would appear to be more of a long-term prospect than an immediate contributor.
Unless West Ham are already preparing for Bowen’s decline—which seems premature—signing another left-footed right winger to keep on the sidelines for several years hardly feels like a move that addresses current needs.
Talented? Certainly. Essential for this transfer window? Probably not.
