Samir Nasri At West Ham - Good News Story In A Sea Of Bad Press

An extremely quiet transfer window saw West Ham only acquire one senior player, and he was already in place at the London Stadium, but what a player, Samir Nasri and he has had quite a career. He was considered as one of the best attacking midfielders while at Arsenal, and Manchester City fought tooth and nail to get him to the Etihad. At that point in time you could have bet at places such as novibet.co.uk that the flamboyant midfield maestro would even vie for the Golden Ball with the likes of Ronaldo and Messi. However, for every positive thing in Nasri's career, there is one equally as bad.

The French playmaker's career with City started well, but things quickly turned sour. Guardiola was fed up with Nasri's discipline problems and lack of dedication to the cause and soon decided to give up on him. Nasri then played relatively well while on loan at Sevilla FC and the Spanish club wouldn't have been accused of doing anything wrong if they decided to acquire him, they didn't however, and from there it was all downhill for Nasri.

Will Pellegrini's Faith Be Repaid?

That's why it was a huge surprise when Manuel Pellegrini decided to give Nasri another chance despite knowing him from his Manchester City days. The Hammers have had their fair share of stress inducing lots of bad press themselves, and signing a player who had been out of the game for 18 Months due to a doping ban seemed like a further blow. That was the bright spot! Arnautovic and his brother/agent just couldn't keep their mouths shut with their desired China move and this still certainly is a dressing room issue that could spark a problem. The club had put quite a lot of faith in the former Stoke and Inter Milan player, but it seemed like as soon as the Austrian saw the money it was game over for their relationship.

In addition to this, Declan Rice's good performances, meant that clubs such as City and Liverpool would come snooping in, and so they did. The youngster tied his future to the club until 2024 only a while ago, but that has never been a deterrence for Sheikh owners. Acquiring the services of Nasri at such a time seemed like utter madness by Pellegrini. However, as it was evident from Nasri's encouraging first 70 minutes against Arsenal, the Frenchman seemed ready to pay back the trust that the coach had placed in him.

Was the Break from Football What Nasri Needed?

Nasri has recently said that the break that he had to endure as a result of the doping scandal actually did him a lot of good. He had to sit down and look at his options and realised that what he previously took for granted is actually what many people would kill to have. This realisation seems to have rekindled his love for the sport. He certainly looks more mature both on and off the pitch and that can only be a positive thing for the Hammers. This means that should Nasri's stay at West Ham turn into a success story then all that negative press he received wouldn't have been in vain as he learnt from it. It would also mean that Manuel Pellegrini is one heck of a manager and the Hammers are happy to have him.