Dean Ashton
It seems West Ham have always struggled to keep hold of top strikers. Whether they are sold like Craig Bellamy, Demba Ba or Arnautovic, but in Dean Ashton’s case the heartbreak was caused by awful injuries.
Dean Ashton was signed as a record transfer for West Ham from Norwich back in 2006. The big striker only played 56 times scoring 19 goals for the Hammers until he was forced to retire in December 0f 2009. His injuries were caused by a tackle from Sean Wright-Phillips while away on international duty for England.
Ashton sadly never truly recovered from the injury and was constantly fighting the pain in his ankles. He was still able to have his moment of magic though, like the overhead kick away at Old Trafford, or his equalizer against Aston Villa, which was a brilliant finish from outside the box.
West Ham fans truly believed Ashton could have been a West Ham and England great just like Geoff Hurst. Sadly, it was not meant to be. The now thirty-six-year-old even scored a wonderful bicycle kick at Mark Noble’s testimonial reminding the fans of what could have been.