When West Ham’s maverick players are considered they probably don’t come any better than the mercurial [Paolo Di Canio.](https://www.claretandhugh.info/di-canios-top-three-goals-for-the-hammers/) Captain of the side, incredibly, Di Canio was a force of nature but hardly the easiest to coach – just ask Harry Redknapp.
Alessandro Diamanti, Marko Arnautovic or perhaps Dimitri Payet – all were unpredictable with occasional moments of brilliance.
West Ham’s striker search has encompassed another young virtually unknown talent described in a similar vein. Rangers striker **Hamza Igamane**, currently under consideration, would be another in the ‘maverick, unknown and possibly mercurial’ tradition.
Freelance analyst [Ben Mattinson](https://x.com/Ben_Mattinson_) in December, writing on his X / twitter feed summed up Igamane enticingly:
_“Hamza Igamane… Completely unpredictable, tonnes of flair and trickery. The type of player to try outrageous moves/shots just because In today’s modern game of systems, it’s so good to still see pure street ballers shining BRING BACK MAVERICKS!”_
Which begs the question: Would he fit into Potter’s West Ham? You’d hardly credit the Hammers manager with flexibility, imagination and the required slightly bonkers style which would be needed to get the best out of the genius lurking within Igamane.
If anything, from what we’ve seen so far, Potter seems the ultimate ‘_systems, strategy and_ _strangulation_‘ style-manager.
I’d love to be proved wrong: If the story regarding Igamane continues to gather traction, Hammers fans could be in for another shot of Arnie-style chaos. Not necessarily what is required to guarantee fifteen goals a season – but never dull, and the mavericks certainly put bums on seats.