Four strikers to save West Ham’s season
Article by Brandon FreemanClick here to follow e-West Ham on Twitter for the latest news!
With the end of the summer transfer window looming, West Ham are once again in search of a striker to fill the boots of the injured Andy Carroll. The arrival of Enner Valencia from Pachuca for a reported fee of £12m will add some much needed firepower to the hammers forward line. However, despite Valencia’s excellent goal scoring form, which saw the Ecuadorian hitman score 18 goals in 23 games in Mexico as well as all 3 of Ecuador’s World Cup goals in Brazil, Co-Chairmen David Sullivan has admitted the squad still lacks the necessary goal scoring prowess needed to thrive in the Premier League this season. Speaking to the clubs official website earlier this month, Sullivan admitted a number of offers had been tabled for strikers in both the UK and abroad, "We've got offers in for three or four strikers - one in England, three abroad - and we just hope to land one of them. We do need to sign another player,"
Should West Ham fail to land another striker before the end of the transfer window, there is little doubt the club will face an immense struggle to remain in the league. Therefore with the hammers desperately needing to add a new striker to their squad, here are four candidates I believe can save West Ham’s season.
Diafra Sakho
West Ham have been rumoured this week to have agreed a fee with Sakho’s club FC Metz, believed to be in the region of £3.5m. Should Sakho join West Ham the deal would represent a great piece of business for the club given Sakho’s amazing goal scoring record in France. The 6ft striker scored 20 league goals last season, and has scored 39 goals in the last two seasons. At the age of just 24 it is clear that Sakho has potential for growth, and it appears that last season’s Ligue 2 player of the year seems to be the most likely player to fill in for Andy Carroll at Upton Park.
Another player heavily linked with West Ham is Sunderland’s 21 year- old striker Connor Wickham. Wickham has just one year remaining on his current deal and has been told by manager Gus Poyet to sign or be sold, meaning that this deal could be a real possibility for West Ham. Wickham played an integral role in Sunderland surviving relegation last season, returning on loan from Leeds to score 5 goals, including a memorable brace against the 2013/14 champions Manchester City. Despite Wickham’s impressive form for Sunderland at the end of last season, Wickham has little experience of playing top-flight football and at the age of just 21 isn’t an established goal-scorer, therefore can West Ham really afford to take a risk on a player who would command a fee in the region of £6m?
Andrej Kramaric
The 23 year-old Croatian striker has reportedly been on the hammers radar for some time and is thought to be held in high regard by the Croatian national team having been capped at under 19, 20 and 21 level. Kramaric also boasts a fantastic goal scoring record having scored 21 goals last season for Rijeka, including 8 goals in one game against Zmaj Blato in a Croatian Cup game. Once again, however signing Kramaric and expecting him to replace Andy Carroll would be a huge risk given that Kramaric has little experience of playing outside of Croatia, a league far inferior to the Premier League.
Hugo Almeida
Last but by no means least is Portuguese veteran Hugo Almeida who Sam Allardyce has reportedly tried to lure to Upton Park in the past. Almeida is a free agent having been released by Turkish side Besiktas, where he scored 37 goals in 88 games. Almeida has also featured regularly in his national side, earning 56 caps and scoring 19 goals in the process. As such he would bring some much needed goal scoring ability to West Ham’s squad and would be a good stop-gap whilst Andy Carroll remains sidelined through injury. Given that Almeida is also a free agent, he would represent a good deal for West Ham.
Which striker do you believe West Ham should sign to solve their attacking woes, or are there other candidates more suitable? Leave your comments below and follow our Twitter page @e_westham for the latest news and views, all things West Ham.
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