Striker West Ham had reportedly “signed” before he ended up at rivals Wolves looks to be out for season after debut ACL injury

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A striker West Ham had reportedly “signed” before he ended up at rivals Wolves looks to be out for the season after a debut ACL injury.

Signing a new striker was the top priority for both West Ham and Wolves in the summer.

Getting a new forward was essential in David Moyes’ summer rebuild at West Ham.

The Hammers finally managed that after an 18-month search with the £35m arrival of Gianluca Scamacca.

But before Scamacca joined West Ham, Moyes had been linked with a plethora of forwards.

One of them was giant Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic.

There was surprise and excitement back in July when respected Sport BILD journalist Marcel Reif claimed live on air that Kalajdzic was joining West Ham from Stuttgart imminently.

Reif claimed ‘clear agreements’ were in place between the Hammers, Stuttgart and the coveted striker.

The move did not happen of course although the Hammers had been consistently linked with a deal to bring the Austria international Kalajdzic to the London Stadium by the likes of The Daily Mail and Sport Bild.

Moyes elected to sign Italy forward Scamacca and Wolverhampton Wanderers pounced to land 6ft 7in Kalajdzic for £15m before the transfer deadline instead.

Now the striker West Ham had reportedly “signed” before he ended up at rivals Wolves looks to be out for the season after a debut ACL injury.

Kalajdzic was thrown straight into the Wolves side for their 1-0 win over Southampton on Saturday. But he was substituted at half-time after feeling pain in his knee.

And Wolves have been hit by a shocking blow after confirming an ACL injury which, as West Ham fans will know well from their experience with Angelo Ogbonna, will likely keep the striker out until next season.

“Sasa felt a pain in his knee late in the first-half against Southampton,” Wolves said in a statement on the club’s website.

“Unfortunately, scans reveal an anterior cruciate injury and he will see a knee specialist tomorrow.

“We now need to support Sasa in his recovery and further updates will follow.”

While clubs never put timescales on ACL injuries, players can miss anything between a year to 18 months.

Ogbonna injured his ACL last November and is still making a tentative comeback now being slowly drip-fed back in by Moyes – who himself has admitted he is rushing him back too soon.

It is a crying shame for Wolves and West Ham fans know the feeling having seen key players and new signings pick up serious injuries down the years.

Indeed West Ham’s own £30m new defender Nayef Aguerd was ruled out for three months in what was only his second appearance for the Hammers during pre-season.

The Moroccan is not expected to be back until the end of October and therefore is not expected to be ready for Premier League action until after the World Cup break.

It’s never nice to see, especially with Wolves fans having been desperate for the club sign a striker. We wish Kalajdzic a speedy recovery.

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