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West Ham‘s desperate search for a striker has taken another interesting turn. 

Graham Potter is dealing with a severe shortage of attacking players less than two weeks since replacing Julen Lopetegui, with Niclas Fullkrug, Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio and Crysencio Summerville all sidelined.

Interest in Evan Ferguson, Taiwo Awoniyi, Rodrigo Muniz, Marcus Rashford and Emmanuel Latte Lath has not materialised, despite only two weeks of the January transfer window remaining.

The only news of a proper bid for a striker came earlier this week when it emerged a £57m bid had been lodged for Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran, which was swiftly rejected.

It was a bid that frustrated both Villa and Hammers fans, who are becoming disillusioned by the club’s attempts to strengthen Potter’s attack.

But now attention appears to have been turned to Monaco, with TBR Football claiming West Ham are rivaling Everton for the signing of Switzerland international Breel Embolo.

Everton, now managed by former boss David Moyes, are keen on securing new firepower of their own, having scored just 18 goals in their 21 league games – only bottom club Southampton have scored fewer.

Embolo played the full 90 minutes for Monaco on Tuesday night as his side beat Villa 1-0 in the Champions League.

But he has been in sporadic form for his club this season, notching five goals and five assists in 25 appearances.

Ten goal contributions at this stage of the season is not to be sniffed at, but it’s not a record that will excite many Hammers fans looking for a recruit who is capable of ending the club’s infamous striker curse.

Monaco striker Breel Embolo

The 27-year-old enjoyed his best football at FC Basel, where he scored 31 goals and bagged 22 assists in 90 appearances, while at Borussia Monchengladbach he registered 45 goal contributions in 106 outings.

He is known as a goalscorer, having scored 95 career goals, but has only recently returned from an ACL injury which saw him miss 232 days of action.

The Swiss has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, even before his most recent cruciate ligament tear.

Since signing for Monaco in 2022, the striker has missed 49 games through injury. At his previous club, Monchengladbach, Embolo missed 23 games between 2019 and 2021, including two hamstring injuries in his final season at the club.

At Schalke, the striker missed 102 games through a long list of injuries, including a broken fibula, ankle issues, bone edema and a broken foot.

So it would seem like this is a signing West Ham should steer well clear of, especially given the current injury issues present in the squad.