Going into the international break it was difficult to make a case for Danny Ings even being West Ham’s third-choice striker.
There is never a dull moment at West Ham.
Especially when it comes to strikers.
West Ham seem to be on a never-ending search for someone take over from soon-to-be 35-year-old Michail Antonio.
The Hammers have had their fingers burned spending £95m on their last three attempts – Sebastien Haller, Gianluca Scamacca and Danny Ings.
Niclas Fullkrug becomes the latest to try and be that man after arriving in a £23.5m deal from Borussia Dortmund.
But having been stuck on the bench for the first three Premier League games, now Fullkrug is injured.
West Ham’s striker curse is real
The big German fired an early warning to Julen Lopetegui that he has not come to West Ham to play back-up to Antonio after starting on the bench in the season-opening defeat to Villa.
There was some respite when Fullkrug met up with Germany, though, as he started and scored against Hungary.
An Achilles tendon and calf issue has seen Fullkrug return to West Ham. Given his horrendous history of injuries, the Hammers are highly unlikely to risk him at Fulham even if the injury is not serious.
It comes just as fans had been calling on Lopetegui to finally hand Fullkrug his first Prem start at Fulham.
Given he has started all three league games so far, one would expect Antonio to simply continue to lead the line at Craven Cottage.
But an unbelievable turn of events could hand Ings a West Ham start at Fulham instead.
Big Antonio issue for Hammers goes under the radar
It seems to have gone somewhat under the radar that Antonio is away on international duty too.
Antonio, who is also prone to injury as West Ham have found out down the years, played all 90 minutes of the Reggae Boyz’s 0-0 draw with Cuba in Kingston.
Now he is set to fly to Honduras for another game. But it doesn’t take place until the early hours of WEDNESDAY morning.
Providing he comes through unscathed, Antonio must then get back to Jamaica before completing a near 12,000 mile round-trip by heading back to London.
This has happened previously with Antonio since he switched allegiance from England to Jamaica. David Moyes was often quite vocal on the problems it caused him during his West Ham tenure.
At best Antonio might make it back to take some part in training on Friday.
But what kind of condition he will be in will be anyone’s guess.
West Ham have taken a careful approach with Antonio’s hamstrings in recent years. The club avoid playing Antonio in games that are just a few days apart.
So that suddenly leaves the Hammers and Lopetegui with the prospect of Ings leading the line at Fulham instead.
Unbelievable turn of events could hand Ings a West Ham start
The forward has been a flop since arriving from Villa in January 2023 for £15m.
In terms of timing, Ings has certainly put himself in Lopetegui’s thoughts. He actually scored a hat-trick in a behind-closed-doors friendly over the international break.
Although it was only against Dagenham and Redbridge.
Many West Ham fans believe Lopetegui should play Jarrod Bowen up front after Fullkrug’s injury – regardless of Antonio’s situation.
In the eyes of supporters that makes Ings West Ham’s fourth choice striker.
Bowen came on as a late sub for England as a striker in the win over the Republic of Ireland.
And Moyes experimented with him up top last season – with mixed results.
Honduras are notoriously tough tackling. So all eyes now will be on whether Antonio comes through that game ok.
Then it’s a race against time to get him back to London and a big decision to make given he will have played less than 72 hours before the Fulham clash kicks off.
So it’s not beyond the realms of possibility Ings will finally get the big chance he craves under the new boss.
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