David Moyes has delivered some bad news on West Ham’s hunt for a new striker in his recent press conference. The Hammers currently only have on senior striker on their roster after Sebastien Haller’s sale earlier in the transfer window.
Michail Antonio has been fantastic for West Ham since David Moyes converted him to a striker at the end of last season. The Englishman has scored vital goals for the club and has notched 5 in the League this campaign. Antonio brings more than goals to the team, and the whole system is built around the powerful forward.
It should have been a priority to sign a new striker that could challenge Antonio but also replace him if he picks up an injury. Antonio, for all his strengths, does have one major weakness, his hamstrings.
The Englishman has consistently missed large chunks of previous seasons and has already missed two months of the current campaign. During the periods of Antonio’s absence, the team loses its fluidity and simply is not as good.
West Ham would be taking a massive risk for the rest of the season if they don’t sign a new striker before the transfer window shuts.
This is precisely why signing a striker should have been a priority for the club. West Ham over the last two weeks have been linked with almost 30 different strikers, yet no move has materialised. Now Moyes has suggested that the club are not close to anything with only two days left of the transfer window.
"“I don’t want to be in the position where we go bring someone in just for the sake of it. We made an offer for one or two players we would have liked.”“No other transfers on the cards at the moment, we would like a striker but nothing to report right now.”Moyes when asked about transfers."
Moyes sounds like a defeated man in terms of being able to sign the striker that he wants. The suggestion that offers were ‘made’ for players that they ‘would’ have liked paints a fairly grim picture.
With time running out for a deal to be struck for a new striker West Ham must speed up their search. Fans would have hoped to hear that the club were further along in negotiations with potential targets. Instead, it seems that the Hammers will have to either make a late move for a target or risk Antonio’s fitness.
If Antonio is the only senior striker left in the club, Moyes will have to get inventive again. Andriy Yarmolenko can play as a striker, or the manager could give a chance to youngster Ademipo Obudeko.