West Ham could repeat the Dimitri Payet trick with a thrilling £25m winger from France

Last weekend’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United may have provided some much-needed relief, but Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham United remain a team in need of a little bit of inspiration.

Only three sides in the Premier League have scored fewer goals that West Ham’s 13, and the lack of cutting edge in attack has been palpable. With an ageing and, in the case of Niclas Füllkrug, injured set of central strikers means that the responsibility of carrying the team towards goal has fallen almost entirely to Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus, and it would appear that they need some support.

Of course, West Ham have been carried on the back of high-end attacking midfielders before. A little bit of the magic that Dimitri Payet sprinkled on the last season at Upton Park wouldn’t go amiss. The Frenchman elevated a modestly talented squad with his dynamism and creativity, and while the circumstances under which he departed shortly thereafter sullied his memory for many West Ham fans, one suspects that there are a good few that wouldn’t mind seeing something similar now at the London Stadium.

The next Payet?

The real Payet is now 37 and playing out the last act of his career with Vasco da Gama in Brazil – but West Ham and their sporting director Tim Steidten may have a modern upgrade in mind as January looms. The Athletic (paywalled) are among the outlets reporting that the Hammers are interested in Lyon’s Rayan Cherki, and it’s hard not to see a little dash of Payet’s playing style in the versatile young attacking midfielder.

Payet was a Marseille man, of course, and only left the French club in the first place because they found themselves in dire financial straits at the time. Now, it’s Lyon’s turn – the team that dominated French football through the 2000s have been provisionally relegated from Ligue 1 due to their vast debts, and will only avoid the second tier if they raise some funds, fast. A fire sale is likely, and Cherki will be one the first players out of the door simply because he may well be their most valuable player.

The Athletic’s reporting doesn’t offer up a price tag, but various other reports cropping up on the rumour mill suggest that Lyon would demand something in the £25-30m range. No small price, but for a 21-year-old with immense talent, perhaps worthwhile.

Like Payet, Cherki is a direct and technically sublime player who has the guile and daring to run at and beat defenders while also boasting a lavish passing range when given a yard of space. He hasn’t quite reached the peaks that Payet did at his best (Cherki’s personal best haul of assist is 10, for instance, seven behind Payet’s best in France) but he’s well on the way and has the same capacity to befuddle defenders and run an attack.

Not that the two are entirely alike. Where Payet had a lethal long shot that made him a genuine goalscoring threat, Cherki prefers to look for a quick pass or a run in similar positions and isn’t likely to score 10 goals in a season any time soon. He makes up for the deficiency with added versatility, however – a genuinely two-footed player, Cherki can play as a number ten or on either wing, and may well be a better, quicker and more nimble dribbler. He has the ability to break defensive lines and create space and opportunities other players would miss.

In other words, he’s electric at his best, and West Ham could use a little bit of voltage through their veins right now. Kudus, Bowen and Cherki is an attacking trident that could cause havoc with any striker ahead of them.

The downside of the deal

It may well be that the Hammers prefer to spend their cash on a centre-forward if a suitable candidate presents themselves. Michail Antonio and Danny Ings are getting a little long in the tooth and the club were looking for buyers for them over a year ago. Füllkrug, hardly a newcomer himself, has spent more time on the treatment table than he has touching grass. The dearth of goals could be addressed more directly than by signing another creative player to operate in the channels and pockets behind a centre-forward who doesn’t score often enough.

There is also a question over his attitude and application. Off the ball, his lack of physical strength is paired with a low work rate that has drawn criticism, and even if he can be motivated to put the hard yards in, he’s unlikely to become the kind of player who wins the ball in advanced areas with great regularity.

There have also been persistent rumours that his personality is not especially easy-going, and there are rumours of dressing room rifts which led to widespread speculation that he would be sold last summer, even before the severity of Lyon’s economic woes had become apparent. One comparison may be to Payet, but some more cynical observes might suggest that Hatem Ben Arfa, a massive talent who never hit the predicted heights, could also be apt. Signing him would not be entirely without risk.

But if Cherki is available at anything resembling a discount – and given Lyon’s parlous financial state, he’ll certainly be more readily available than normal – then it’s hard to come up with a compelling argument against rolling the dice on him. If he can keep his head straight and continues to develop as quickly as he has so far, he could become the kind of thrilling and transformative playmaker that Payet once was. And who knows, perhaps this one would stick around…