[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Summer signing Adama Boiro has only made one appearance in claret and blue.
When West Ham sold El Hadji Malick Diouf towards the end of the window, it became a panic to get another left-back in to cover for the big sale.
A lot of names were mentioned. Harry Amass from Manchester United, Morocco international Anass Salah-Eddine, and Melvin Bard, who ended up joining Leeds, were all said to be targets.
However, they didn’t materialise, and it was clear that once Bard was off the table, there were no longer any real left-back options to sign permanently, so a loan was going to happen.
And it was a loan we got. Adama Boiro signed on a season-long loan from Spanish club Athletic Bilbao.
At the time, we were all excited- another signing- and it was touch and go whether or not the deal was completed in time; luckily, it was.
Well, I say luckily; would it really have made a difference?
Since his arrival, in the five matches we’ve had, he’s only made one appearance; he came on for just over ten minutes in the 3-0 win over Derby,
He was on the bench against Bolton the following match, but since then he hasn’t even been named on the bench.
Scarles, Walker-Peters, and Veltman have all been fit, and you don’t need two full-backs on the bench, but the fact that Nuno didn’t give him a start, or even a place on the bench in the Carabao Cup vs Fulham, was really damming.
He is quite an unproven player at the top level; the only thing that would make sense is that Nuno doesn’t think he’s good enough.
I don’t think much scouting was done on him before he signed; we just wanted a left-back on loan, and he was probably the best option on deadline day.
If a club that can only play players from the Spanish Basque Country, and they can’t go out and replace you are loaning you out. Maybe that player isn’t very good.
We might find that out; we might not. However, we would be silly to rule him out already; he’s played 13 minutes of football for us. He has the qualities we could do with in a left-back, so it would be interesting to see if Nuno begins to trust him.
This international break could be important for Adama Boiro; it’s a chance to prove himself to the manager on the training pitch.
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