West Ham Could Pay The Price Allowing A Quiet Deadline Day
West Ham have signed two players in the January transfer window heading into deadline day, but they should be targeting one more. The Hammers have signed danish defender Frederick Alves and loaned in Manchester United ace Jesse Lingard. The duo serves two different purposes but neither fill the void emerging in the striker role.
After selling Sebastien Haller to Ajax a couple of weeks ago; it was expected that the West Ham would sign a new striker to replace him. The Hammers were linked with almost 30 different strikers, but no move has materialised.
Michail Antonio has been left in the positions of being the only senior striker left in the squad. The Englishman, despite turning into a regular goalscorer, is not a natural striker. This is similar to the club’s next option Andriy Yarmolenko. The Ukrainian is a winger by trade but does play as a striker for his national side. Yarmolenko has found success in the role but sadly not for West Ham.
West Ham currently only have one ‘recognised’ striker in the squad, and it seems likely to stay that way until summer.
The only other option for the club is youngster Ademipo Obudeko. The teenager has been brilliant for the youth team but might not be ready to make the step up to the first team. However, after what David Moyes said after the loss to Liverpool, he might have to be.
Speaking after watching his side lose 3-1 to the current champions where the team posed little threat to goal. Moyes suggested that the club’s business was done for this window.
"“I don’t really think we will be active at all I wanted to concentrate on our players rather than ones at other clubs.”David Moyes on transfers."
West Ham have had a brilliant season despite the defeat to Liverpool and currently occupy 5th place in the Premier League. A new striker could help the team stay where they are. If the position is left barren and Antonio gets injured, the club could fall down the table.
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With time running out options for the club will start to narrow down. The only realistic options for the club are Joshua King from AFC Bournemouth who has been linked to the club for a few months. The other option would be a loan move, though a domestic loan would require Craig Dawson’s loan to be made permanent.