SHARE

West Ham are reportedly interested in Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic but he might not be the best fit in David Moyes’ current side.

According to reports from The Daily Mail last weekend, the Hammers have joined RB Leipzig and Roma in the pursuit to sign the 6ft 6in powerhouse.

The club are continuing to be linked with a range of forwards for this upcoming summer’s transfer window, with Michail Antonio the only experienced striker currently in the squad.

The 23-year-old Kalajdzic signed for the Bundesliga side for £2m in June 2019 and has been in fine form this season. He has scored 13 goals and produced four assists in 26 games in all competitions. The Austrian striker has also represented his national team twice.

His tall frame and aerial threat has made him a force to be reckoned with in Germany this year, and thus attracted attention from various top clubs to move onto the next stage in his career.

West Ham have been incredible from set-pieces this season, scoring the most goals from them in the entire Premier League (14) – including one from Craig Dawson in Monday night’s 2-0 win over Leeds United.

However, Kalajdzic’s playing style replicates that of another recent West Ham striker, who was unsuccessful at the club. There are definitely fears that history could repeat itself if we choose to sign him…

Why West Ham should not sign him

Club record signing Sebastien Haller left the club for Ajax in January for £20m, more than half the price we signed him for.

Despite performing extremely well in Germany the season before his arrival, Haller’s time at West Ham ended abruptly because he couldn’t get the service he needed.

The same could happen with Kalajdzic. His height allows him to be great in the air and he has an eye for goal. But as we have seen with Michail Antonio, West Ham perform much better when we have a striker that can chase balls down and make runs in behind.

West Ham pose an excellent aerial threat this season, and the Austria international would only add to that. However, this one-dimensional style of play doesn’t help improve the overall team’s performance and could be detrimental to our game plan.

Moyes said in early February: “What I don’t want to do is, I don’t want to spend and waste my money, take a wage up bringing a player in, spend big money and find that actually, I’ve got it wrong.

“I don’t want to fill it up with someone who is going to be here for two/three years and maybe I can’t move on and I can’t change around.”

Despite his high quality, the signing of Kalajdzic could end up reversing all of David Moyes’ hard work this season. He is still young and inexperienced and our money could be better spent elsewhere.

The club knows what kind of striker will provide competition for Antonio and fit the bill. Our next striker signing has to be a success – but unfortunately, it is hard to see Kalajdzic being the one to take us to new heights next season.