West Ham’s hunt for a new striker is narrowing to four targets as the January window approaches and whoever they bring in will be the 58th forward signing of the David Sullivan era.
Nuno Espirito Santo wants a new striker in the January transfer window to help West Ham’s bid for Premier League survival.
Wantaway flop Niclas Fullkrug is on his way out with a move to Germany or Italy on the cards.
Callum Wilson has been good value on a free transfer but West Ham would be playing with fire if they went into the second half of the season with the ageing and injury-prone forward as their only senior striker option.
Nuno identified that West Ham need a new striker after just one game watching Fullkrug amble around up front.
West Ham net closes on striker 58 of the Sullivan era
The German is the latest in a very long line of striker signing failures in east London.
Too many to mention in fact.
Not all have been disasters of course, but the success stories have been few and far between.
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And would you take him back at 32?
And those who have hit it off, like Marko Arnautovic, have not stuck around long.
In fact there have been 57 forward signings since David Sullivan took over West Ham in 2010.
On average that’s nearly four striker signings per year in the 15 since the current majority owner bought the club.
Now the West Ham net is closing on striker 58 of the Sullivan era, and here’s all 57 who came before as we rate them hits or misses.
The Hammers confirmed who is calling the shots on January transfers this week.
Nuno has the ultimate say while the club’s scouting team – including highly-rated Max Hahn – is having a major influence too.
West Ham have been linked with a host of forwards for a January move.
But Nuno ideally wants a domestic based striker who knows English football and can hit the ground running.
Hammers News understands West Ham’s striker shortlist has been whittled down to four key targets, all based on these shores.
Hammers whittle striker shortlist down to four
The Irons have communicated to Joshua Zirkzee’s representatives that they would be interested in taking him to east London if he leaves Man United in search of regular game time in January.
Zirkzee wants to leave Old Trafford in order to ensure he had a place in Holland’s World Cup squad.
Nuno likes the 24-year-old former Bologna star and feels he can help occupy defenders to give more space to the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville.
The problem is several big clubs, including Roma, want Zirkzee too.
Another striker being pushed by West Ham’s leading scout Hahn is Swansea’s Zan Vipotnik.
West Ham are interested in Vipotnik and Swansea being in Championship no man’s land could mean they are open to selling.
The Slovenian scored in Swansea’s defeat to Stoke to make it 10 goals in 22 games so far this season.
Give Me Sport claims Norwich City forward Josh Sargent is another top target for Nuno.
US international Sargent has six goals in 16 games this season and only managed four in 29 the last time the Canaries were in the top flight.
Another Championship striker – and Sargent’s fellow US international – wanted by the Hammers is Haji Wright.
ExWHUemployee claims West Ham are seriously interested in the Coventry star, who has nine goals in 18 games this season.
Wright is 27 and stands 6ft 3in tall, making him a powerful and experienced option for a January move.
Whether any of them would finally break the West Ham striker curse is open to debate.
For the sake of the club’s Premier League survival, they will need to.
Here’s a look at the 57 who came before and whether we think they were a hit or a miss for the Hammers.
By our reckoning, just 13 of the 57 have been hits – and we’re being a touch generous with a couple of those too.
Be sure to get involved and have your say.
All 57 forwards signed by West Ham during the Sullivan era:
All 57 forwards signed by West Ham United since 2010!
Be honest – How many SUCCESSES can you find in this list?
1. Mido – miss.
2. Benni McCarthy – miss.
3. Ilan – miss.
4. Frederic Piquionne – miss.
5. Victor Obinna – miss.
6. Pablo Barrera – miss.
7. Demba Ba – hit.
8. Robbie Keane – miss.
9. Sam Baldock – miss.
10. John Carew – miss.
11. Brian Montenegro – miss.
12. Paul McCallum – miss.
13. Nicky Maynard – miss.
14. Ricardo Vaz Te – hit.
15. Modibo Maiga – miss.
16. Andy Carroll – hit.
17. Sean Maguire – miss.
18. Marouane Chamakh – miss.
19. Wellington Paulista – miss.
20. Joe Dixon – miss.
21. Marco Borriello – miss.
22. Jaanai Gordon – miss.
23. Mladen Petric – miss.
24. Carlton Cole – hit.
25. Enner Valencia – hit.
26. Diafra Sakho – hit.
27. Victor Moses – hit.
28. Mauro Zarate – hit.
29. Nene – miss.
30. Martin Samuelsen – miss.
31. Michail Antonio – hit.
32. Nikica Jelavic – miss.
33. Emmanuel Emenike – miss.
34. Luka Belic – miss.
35. Simone Zaza – miss.
36. Jonathan Calleri – miss.
37. Ashley Fletcher – miss.
38. Toni Martinez – miss.
39. Sofiane Feghouli – miss.
40. Andre Ayew – miss.
41. Marko Arnautovic – hit.
42. Javier Hernandez – miss.
43. Jordan Hugill – miss.
44. Oladapo Afolayan – miss.
45. Lucas Perez – miss.
46. Adrian Yarmolenko – hit.
47. Xande Silva – miss.
48. Sebastien Haller – miss.
49. Albian Ajeti – miss.
50. Mesaque Dju – miss.
51. Jarrod Bowen – hit.
52. Gianluca Scamacca – miss.
53. Maxwell Cornet – miss.
54. Danny Ings – miss.
55. Niclas Fullkrug – miss.
56. Evan Ferguson – miss.
57. Callum Wilson – hit so far.
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