Evan Ferguson injury fears addressed after new West Ham striker was nowhere to be seen

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Fears that the West Ham striker curse has struck down new signing Evan Ferguson have been addressed ahead of the clash with Brentford.

Fans are convinced the West Ham striker curse is real.

The fact Evan Ferguson is the 54th forward signed by the Hammers in the last 15 years provides pretty damning evidence.

Exhibit A this season is striker signing number 53 of the David Sullivan era – Niclas Fullkrug.

West Ham fans questioned the wisdom of signing an injury-prone 31-year-old in the first place.

But Tim Steidten pressed ahead with the £26.5m move anyway.

And as is the case more often than not, West Ham fans have been proved right.

Fullkrug has played just a handful of times and will have been out for six of his first nine months at the club if and when he returns near the end of the season.

With Michail Antonio out for the season after breaking his leg in that horrific car crash, the Hammers had no choice but to sign a new striker in the winter window.

In came Ferguson on loan for the rest of the season.

Ferguson injury fears addressed by West Ham

The 20-year-old Irishman would have been a player well out of West Ham’s reach just over a year ago.

Valued at £100m plus by Brighton, Ferguson was making his name as one of the best young forwards in Europe.

But a series of ankle injuries, which ultimately required an operation, have set his career back.

So much so that Brighton wanted to sell him to West Ham, who would only commit to an option rather than obligation to buy.

That exposes West Ham to the risk of Ferguson catching fire in east London and another club stealing him away in the summer.

But it also lessens the risk regarding Ferguson’s injuries.

There has been concern the West Ham striker curse has claimed another victim, though.

Now Ferguson injury fears have been addressed after the new West Ham striker was nowhere to be seen.

Graham Potter said on a club podcast this week that Ferguson may have to have his minutes managed at first given he has only just returned to action.

Hammers fans are understandably excited at the prospect of seeing Ferguson make his debut against Brentford on Saturday.

New West Ham striker was nowhere to be seen

But there was a sense of Groundhog Day when the club published a gallery from training ahead of the Premier League clash against the Bees and Ferguson did not feature in any of the pictures.

As a new signing – and indeed the only signing – of the window, West Ham would understandably be keen to big Ferguson up.

So supporters would understandably expect to see Ferguson front and centre in the picture gallery article titled ‘Hammers build for Brentford’.

Concern was sparked by the fact Ferguson is not featured in any of the 18 pictures.

Lucas Paqueta, Carlos Soler, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Mohammed Kudus, Andy Irving, James Ward-Prowse, Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Aaron Cresswell, Emerson, captain Jarrod Bowen, Alphonse Areola, Edson Alvarez and Guido Rodriguez can all be seen in the images.

So Hammers News reached out to a top spokesman inside West Ham to ask the big question.

Has the West Ham striker curse claimed another victim in Ferguson?

Huge relief as new boy on track for Brentford bow

Hammers fans can breathe a sigh of relief.

Because the striker has not suffered an injury ahead of his West Ham debut.

For reasons unknown, Ferguson as not featured in the training gallery despite being the main player most fans would want to see having just arrived as the big January striker signing.

But according to a key senior London Stadium contact, Ferguson is fine at the time of writing and was not missing from training that day.

“He did arrive off the back of having had an ongoing injury but has not suffered any setback,” the West Ham spokesman told Hammers News.

“Although the manager may have to ease him in as he has said himself.”

There is further relief for West Ham fans after the club published video footage from training.

The video is titled ‘Inside Rush Green: Ward-Prowse returns to east London’.

Again rather strangely focusing on the return of Ward-Prowse from a disastrous terminated loan deal rather than a new signing.

But the good news is Ferguson does feature in that video footage.

Hopefully the only dilemma Potter has over Ferguson come Saturday is whether to start him against Brentford or bring him on and manage his minutes that way.