West Ham Mass Striker Links Prove Scattergun Approach

West Ham are on the lookout for a new striker after selling Sebastien Haller earlier in the transfer window. The Hammers have Michail Antonio, the only senior striker left in the club after Ivorian international left the club.

With a new striker a top priority, a club would usually have one to three top targets they would chase. West Ham, however, have no sort of plan in sight, evidenced by the sheer amount of players that have been linked to the club. Since the sale of Haller, the Hammers have been linked with players from all corners of the globe it seems.

The club have been linked with at least 26 different attackers in the last two week. There is more than likely others, but it is impossible to keep track of them all. The main concern about the list is that they are all very different in terms of style and age. This variant in target suggests that there is no exact plan in place to replace Haller.

A clinical striker is the hardest type of player to sign, and West Ham appear to be leaving no stone unturned.

Here’s a full list of strikers linked with the club so far:

Patson Daka (RB Salzburg)

Boulaye Dia (Stade De Reims)

Abdallah Sima (SK Slavia Prague)

Adam Hložek (Sparta Prague)

Graziano Pelle (Free Agent)

Olivier Giroud (Chelsea)

Edin Dzeko (Roma)

Giovanni Simeone (Fiorentina)

Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla)

Divock Origi (Liverpool)

Danny Ings (Southampton)

Odsonne Edouard (Celtic)

Marko Arnautovic (Shanghai SIPG)

Josh King (AFC Bournemouth)

Hwang Hee-chan (RB Leipzig)

Adam Armstrong (Blackburn Rovers)

Moussa Dembele (Lyon, joined Athletico Madrid on loan)

Luka Jovic (Real Madrid, joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan)

Mariano Diaz (Real Madrid)

Josh Maja (Bordeaux)

Saber Laborde (Montpellier)

Andre Silva (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Vincent Aboubakar (Beşiktaş)

Willian Jose (Real Sociedad, joined Wolves on loan)

Henry Onyekuru (AS Monaco)

Diego Costa (Free Agent)

As you can see the list is very extensive and varies from young up and coming talent to ageing veterans. It would safe to assume that this list will have grown by the time a striker is actually signed by the club.

There are clear players that fans would like to see arrive at the club such as Boulaye Dia and Patson Daka. Yet the club are still linked with attackers such as Olivier Giroud, Graziano Pelle, Deigo Costa and Edin Dzeko.

West Ham target Graziano Pelle. (Photo by Allsport Co./Getty Images)

These types of players were the typical signings of the past. Old stars, past their best and on high wages, Moyes has tried to stay away from these types of players since returning to the club. The manager deserves to sign the striker he wants after the wonders he has worked this season.

Moyes is desperate for a player similar to Michail Antonio. When the Englishman is injured, which is often, the team often has to change system and style. This change can affect the flow of the team. Two ideal players on the list would be Patson Daka and Boulaye Dia.

The club had made a move for Dia and also Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri, however, no deals have been agreed so far. Whoever the next striker to be signed by the club is, they will be the 50th one bought by the current ownership in just over ten years.

Whatever does happen in the final days of the current transfer window there is one thing that will become clear. The ambitions of the club’s current ownership will be shown. No striker or a cheap one signed will show that survival is enough, or a striker signed to compete for the first-team and push up the league as much as possible.