West Ham winger Stewart Downing is of the opinion that the signing of Enner Valencia will be good for the club since it would ease the pressure on striker Andy Carroll. West Ham have recently been involved in a lot of signings in the attacking front after coming in for a lot of criticism for their defensive football last season. Valencia is one of the big names to come to the club this summer after he has been brought for £ 12 million. Along with Andy Carroll, West Ham have spent close to £ 30 million on their strikers.
Downing expects Valencia to be good despite not having played in the Premier league. The 25-year-old joins the London club from Mexican club Pachuca. He is expected to complete his move in the next 24 hours. He will be joining the likes of Mauro Zarate as the key attacking signings this campaign. West Ham comfortably managed to avoid relegation last season, but this was not before the club was subjected to intense pressure during the months of January. They were bottom of the table for a few weeks before eventually managing to find their form towards the end of the campaign.
Allardyce agreed to play more attacking football and it resulted in the appointment of Teddy Sheringham as the attacking coach. “We can’t rely on Andy all season. He was the big signing last season, but Andy struggled with injuries so hopefully the new signings will take the pressure off him a little bit. And from what I’ve seen of Valencia against England, he looks a very good player. He can nick a goal and it is competition for places. It’s what we’ve needed as we didn’t have that last season,” said Downing. West Ham’s two pre-season friendlies have finished as draws.