Former Liverpool and England midfielder Danny Murphy believes that winger Maxwel Cornet will be a good signing for West Ham United.
The Hammers completed their fifth signing of the summer to take their spending to around the £100mllion mark on Friday, bringing in Ivory Coast international Cornet from Burnley in a move worth £17.5m. However, he was signed too late to make his debut in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City at the London Stadium.
Cornet’s absence added to injuries that ruled fellow summer arrival Nayef Aguerd out of action, with Craig Dawson and Angelo Ogbonna also sidelined and Issa Diop also making himself unavailable to play.
READ MORE: Issa Diop adds insult to West Ham’s injury crisis as Gianluca Scamacca provides glimmer of hope
To add to the Hammers’ squad issues for their opening Premier League game of the campaign, goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was forced off injured in the first half shortly before City opened the scoring.
But Murphy has praised Cornet, who could make his debut against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, and thinks that he will be a good signing for the Irons.
“The big blow was the injury to Aguerd, the centre half who they bought from Rennes, who they have high hopes for,” Murphy told Match of the Day 2.
“I think it was a positive, [Gianluca] Scamacca came on and looked okay in the second half. Cornet is going to be a decent signing, he is going to add some goals. He is a clever footballer, I think that is a good bit of business.”
On the game itself, while the Hammers kept themselves competitive, it was a largely one-sided affair, with Erling Haaland scoring in both halves on his Premier League debut to earn a 2-0 victory for Pep Guardiola’s side.
While Murphy sympathised with the injury-hit Irons, he did feel that they should have shown more attacking intent in the second half.
“I thought second half, and I know it is hard because your energy is zapped, it was 30 degrees, I thought they could have had a go and taken a bit more of a risk to go after City,” added Murphy. "I think the West Ham fans will be a little bit disappointed. Saying that, you are playing against real quality.”
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