Remainder of the season should have a different purpose

Before he arrived at West Ham as a 22-year-old in the summer of 2019, Albian Ajeti had a steady progression from promising youth at St Gallen to scoring in the Champions League for Basel and leading the line for Switzerland in European Championship qualification.  31 goals from 52 league appearances across his final two seasons in Switzerland is the form that attracts EPL clubs.

We have seen better players than Albian suffer at the wrong club, so there’s every reason to believe West Ham fans have no idea what his genuine talents are (I felt a bit the same about Ismailia Soro until recently), but damage has been done to his repute, as well as his sharpness.

If you wanted to go somewhere in the summer of 2020 to repair your confidence and to enjoy your football again, Celtic Park did not turn out to be a wise choice.  Celtic quickly descended into crisis where even idolised Odsonne Edouard found form from previous seasons illusive.

With Odsonne in the final 18 months of his contract and zero chance of him extending, one of the tasks for the remainder of the season should be to repair what’s necessary for Albian and return him to his peak for the summer.

It has been decades since we have had as many games ahead without a genuine chance of winning the league.  These games now have a different purpose with preparing the squad for next season a top requirement.  Albian should play as many games as possible.