Opinion: West Ham loaning out 28-year-old doesn’t make sense, decision needed

West Ham United striker Jordan Hugill faces an uncertain future at the club – and a decision over where he will play his football next season is needed soon. 

The Hammers signed the former Preston North End centre forward in January 2018, but the attacker has not been given much of a chance to impress in the Premier League. 

West Ham have loaned Hugill out after his opportunities to play at the London Stadium dried up, with the striker doing well for QPR in 2019-20. 

A return of 13 league goals from 30 starts for the Loftus Road outfit is a respectable return and the attacker will surely be in-demand this summer from Championship clubs. 

However, loaning out Hugill for another season, taking him 12 months closer to the end of the four-and-a-half year contract he signed when joining West Ham, makes no sense. 

The forward’s value will not get any higher, even if he has a good season on loan in the Championship in 2020-21, while if he isn’t deemed to be good enough to feature for West Ham now, he surely won’t be in 12 months’ time either. 

David Moyes was in charge of West Ham when the club initially signed Hugill and the Scottish boss clearly saw something in him to want to bring him to the London Stadium. 

The Hammers boss now needs to decide whether he thinks the attacker can be an asset for the club – if not, a sale this summer should be in order, not another loan.