Five strikers West Ham should be targeting before Tuesday
Well, here we are again. Less than a week before the transfer window closes and we still haven’t signed a striker!
The reoccurrence of this striker nightmare is a depressing regularity. It would be fair to say that we have reached the stage of ‘crisis’ in this department; Andy Carroll is inevitably injured for an unknown period of time, Enner Valencia has criticised West Ham for forgetting about his long term injury and Diafra Sakho is supposedly nursing an injury but has also been arrested.
Meanwhile, Mauro Zarate has joined the rest of the above on the injury table and Modibo Maiga has been shipped out to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr.
This officially leaves us with no fit first team forwards except for young Elliot Lee – who has one Premier League substitute appearance to his name.
Our priority – needless to say – must therefore be to add another striker to the squad.
I have assessed five different players who might resolve our injury crisis and to ease our concerns for the season ahead…
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Dwight Gayle
Gayle embarked on a meteoric rise which saw him switch from Conference South team Bishops Stortford to Premier League Crystal Palace in just over 12 months!
Wherever he goes he scores goals but Alan Pardew has revealed that Gayle cannot be guaranteed the game time that he desires. The 25 year-old turned down a move to Championship side Bristol City and may be worth a punt at £5m for us amidst our striker crisis.
Admittedly he would not be the answer to all of our problems but he would be a solid enough option to have as a striker and a cheaper alternative too.
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Javier Hernandez
A deal, however, looks increasingly unlikely as Manchester United have failed to sign another striker to deputise for Wayne Rooney.
The Mexican international is apparently available for a fee between £10m and £12m and he may fancy a move to West Ham in a search for regular first team football.
With experience of the league and a natural eye for goal, the signing of the 27-year-old would be a real signal of intent from the club.
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Benik Afobe
However, Wolves are adamant that he will not leave the club this summer and have already rejected a £10m bid from Norwich for the services of the 22-year-old.
Afobe started his career at Arsenal but finally completed a permanent move away from the Gunners to Championship side Wolves. Afobe is strong, quick and a prolific goalscorer.
It might be worth us putting a hefty bid in for him or alternatively using Matt Jarvis as bait to lure him in.
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Joel Campbell
Past loan spells to the likes of Olympiakos and Villarreal have been successful and there is no doubting his skill but a future at Arsenal seems unlikely.
Now aged 23, Campbell might want to settle at another club on a permanent basis and West Ham might be an option that he can assess.
His ability to play out wide would provide us with some much needed versatility and would mean that he could continue to get game time when our strikers return from injury.
Campbell would have to sign on a permanent basis as we already have Carl Jenkinson on loan from Arsenal and he would probably opt to move abroad too.
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Burak Yilmaz
Having had a £3.5m bid turned down for the Galatasaray forward, reports suggest that we have made an improved bid and it has been accepted. Yilmaz boasts an impressive goalscoring record in Turkey and might be a sensible move as a cheaper option.
Slaven Bilic knows the 30 year old from his time in Turkey and might be able to get the best out of him.
Yilmaz seems keen on the move and could turn out to be a shrewd signing if we can get the best out of him.