There are no prizes for guessing who the West Ham United fans picked when asked which Brentford player they would love to bring over to the London Stadium.
Ahead of Saturday’s 3pm kick-off in the west of the capital, we at Hammers News asked you – our TalkingPoint users – to name the player you would snatch out of Keith Andrews’ grasp given the chance.
As one West Ham United fan puts it pretty succinctly; ‘Are you joking? Igor Thiago’.
How much do West Ham need a new STRIKER?
There was never likely to be any other answer.
While Nuno has one of the Premier League’s most experienced strikers putting the ‘super’ in supersub – Callum Wilson rolled back the years with last week’s stoppage-time winner against Everton – Brentford struck gold again when they signed Igor Thiago from Club Brugge.
Neal Maupay, Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeuno, Yoane Wissa, now Thiago. How do they do it?
Brentford striker Igor Thiago would be a dream West Ham United addition
With 21 goals, Tiago is Erling Haaland’s closest challenger in the Golden Boot race. And talk about a sign of the times; Brazil’s number nine plays for Brentford these days. Oh the power the Premier League wields.
At the time of writing, 70 per cent of our Hammers News readers voted for Igor Thiago above any other Brentford player.
“Thiago; pace, aggression and goals,” one said on our Facebook page.
“Just Igor for me. He has been on fire this season.”
A further 15 per cent of you are keen on the idea of a ‘world-class’ Caoimhin Kelleher filling the net at the London Stadium, despite Mads Hermansen’s impressive run of clean sheets.
Hermansen is yet to convince every West Ham supporter, it seems. A seventh shut-out in his last 13 Premier League appearances during Saturday’s trip to the Gtech Community Stadium would help to transform those lingering doubts, though.
“Kelleher; World class and we desperately need a keeper.”
Criminally-underrated creative lynchpin Mikkel Damsgaard, long-throw specialist Michael Kayode and speed-freak forward Kevin Schade are battling for the final spot on the podium.
“I always like Damsgaard,” one says.
“Thiago and Schade.”
What changes are you making to this team? Just don’t think Wilson should start 😬
The Hammers face Brentford a team transformed
Earlier in the campaign, when Brentford were on the coattails of the Champions League spots and West Ham were adrift in the bottom three, any combined XI would likely have been very red-and-white heavy.
West Ham have been in bonafide European-chasing form since beating Tottenham away from home in mid-January, though. Across their last 13 matches, the Hammers have accumulated 22 points compared to Brentford’s 15.
A lot has changed for the better at the London Stadium since Brentford – and highly-predictable goalscorer Igor Thiago – consigned Nuno to a 2-0 defeat on his home debut in October.
Still, one thing that has remained the same over the last six months is the scintillating goalscoring form of Brentford’s Golden Boot-seeking number nine.
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