West Ham left scrambling for striker options after Arnautovic saga

After the Marko Arnautovic transfer bombshell a few days ago, it seems as though the Austrian is bound to be leaving the club in a couple of weeks time. With a lack of depth at the striker position, to begin with, West Ham are now in a difficult position and need to sort out the mess sooner rather than later.

We knew it was coming. Stoke City fans had warned us West Ham supporters since the day he signed that Marko Arnautovic is a rather difficult customer. He brought the Hammers some great memories and fabulous goals, however, all great things must come to an end.

The reality of the situation is that West Ham simply cannot allow another Arnie transfer saga to occur, especially in such an important team building part of the preseason. He should, and probably will be shipped out to the Chinese League in a couple of weeks. However, this now leaves West Ham with a massive problem up front.

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Both Andy Carroll and Lucas Perez have left the club this summer. Arnautovic will be following them soon. This leaves us with only two true striker options. Jordan Hugill and Chicharito. Certainly not an ideal situation for a club aiming for European Football next season. To make matters worse, Chicha has stated that he would like to leave the club if possible but also would be happy to see out his contract with the Hammers. As for Hugill, he spent last season on loan at Middlesborough. He did not perform well, only scoring 6 goals in 37 appearances for the Championship club. Pellegrini and Husillos certainly have some work left to do this window.

So what are the Irons’ options here? The Hammers have been linked to many other strikers. The one guy who seems very keen on joining the club is West Brom striker Salomon Rondon. He enjoyed a great season last year on a struggling Newcastle side and scored 11 goals in 32 appearances. Although the Venezuelan would certainly help out West Ham’s striker situation, he will turn 30 in September and is not a long-term solution for the club. The Hammers must focus on getting a young and talented striker in this window to pair with the experience of a player like Rondon. That will be a major test for Husillos and he will certainly have to work hard to find this replacement.

Maxi Gomez is apparently close to joining Valencia, meaning the Hammers have missed out on their main man up top. Although it is not the end of the world, Arnie’s imminent departure means the pressure is on to find a replacement that can immediately pick up the Austrian’s production. West Ham have been linked with a few other strikers including Wout Weghorst, Moussa Marega, and Andre Silva, however, none of these links are concrete at all. The Hammers must get the ball rolling to bring in a young and talented striker.

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I, along with many West ham fans, am optimistic about this season. If the Hammers can stay fit, and that a big if, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Irons could push for European Football next season. However, after this most recent Arnautovic bombshell, West Ham need to bring 1 or 2 talented strikers into the club as soon as they can. We all love Jordan Hugill, but the prospect of him leading the line against Man City on match-day one is our worst nightmare.