With the summer transfer window now past its halfway point, West Ham United have been left with just two strikers who could realistically be involved in the first-team set-up next season, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez.
This comes after the exits of Lucas Perez, Andy Carroll and Antonio Martinez with the other centre-forward still at the club in the form of Jordan Hugill on the transfer list.
Rumours have linked them to various names who could come in and boost the forward ranks ahead of the 2019/2020 season.
One of the most frequently-mentioned strikers amid the speculation is Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gomez, currently away at the Copa America with Uruguay.
Fans will, in addition, remember the name from the January transfer window when he so very nearly moved to London Stadium and Marko Arnautovic so very nearly left.
This time there are others vying for the 22-year-old’s signature, namely the Hammers’ bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
And lo and behold, the player himself has noticed the interest from Spurs and now wants to wait and see if the Champions League finalists are serious before committing to a move to east London.
However, Manuel Pellegrini, Mario Husillos and those that work under them should be having none of this and move on after the star’s transfer update.
West Ham have been messed about in the past by footballers they’ve spent entire transfer windows chasing before being let down and with their new market strength, should not be letting it happen this time around and aborting a deal.
If Gomez wants to make north London his next destination and forever be the understudy to Harry Kane, then let him – it’s not like he’s going to be playing much football and therefore doesn’t have much chance of coming back to bite the Irons.
At the end of the day it’s his loss because he would be missing the opportunity to become the main man up front at a top-half Premier League side.
There are plenty of other options out there and the East Londoners shouldn’t be putting all their eggs in one basket with Gomez, especially now.
It’s not like he’s guaranteed to be a big success in the English top flight. Even if West Ham fought on and eventually won the battle for his services, they’d only be getting someone who scored 13 goals in a far inferior league last season.
The desire to be at a certain club can be just as important as quality when making a signing and David Sullivan and David Gold must make sure they’re getting both of these things before committing money to their team’s marquee attacking signing of the summer.
