West Ham United are out of the Europa League and Simone Zaza has signed for the club in what could eventually be a club record deal. But although on paper his credentials tick all the boxes, he is unproven in British football.
Where do West Ham look to next? I’m suggesting we look to invest in a British player who is currently playing outside the Premier League. Last season he scored 28 goals in 43 games, which was followed by a call up to the national side. With a ratio of 0.6 goals per game last season and currently three goals from four games this season, I’m talking about Wigan’s Will Grigg.
Will’s goal scoring career is 0.35 goals per game, which is just under West Ham’s new striker Zaza, who has a 0.37 goals per game ratio.
The 25-year-old striker was developed at Birmingham City under the ownership of current West Ham chairmen Gold & Sullivan. He was fast tracked through the youth system until he suffered a broken leg at the age of 15, which put a firm halt on his footballing career. He was eventually released in 2007, enrolled to Solihull College and played for Solihull Moors.
His performances for his college side caught the eye of Stratford town and then he finally signed for Walsall in 2008. During his five years at the club her netted 27 goals in 99 appearances.
Brentford took on Grigg and he was an underused player, featuring only 34 times in two years – scoring four goals. During his time at Brentford, he was loaned out to MK Dons and scored 20 goals in 44 games in the 2014-2015 season. His performances under Karl Robinson earned him a big move to a relegated Wigan Athletic in League One at the start of the 2015 season, which proved to be his best season in his career.
A fans favourite due to his clinical ability in front of goal, the now worldwide famous chant based on Gala’s “Free from Desire” – “Will Grigg’s on fire” – got the stands rocking not only at the DW Stadium, but eventually in France at Euro 2016. Unfortunately he didn’t feature IN the competition, but everyone knew his name and why.
German Bundesliga side Hamburg have declared a small interest after a petition from the fans to sign the striker. He just turned 25 and is valued at a mere £2m on Transfermarkt.com – so could this be a fantastic piece of transfer deadline day business from the West Ham owners?
We all see how much Jamie Vardy has progressed under Leicester City, guiding them to Premier League glory, Champions league football and becoming the first player since Ruud Van Nistelrooy to score in 11 consecutive Premier League games.
I think we could get him for around £4m plus a season loan deal of Marcus Browne or Reece Burke for the season.
What do you think? He would without a shadow of a doubt get the crowd singing in the stands!
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Come on you Irons!
