West Ham can ill afford any more missteps in this forthcoming summer transfer window.
As the football world knows full well, West Ham committed £155m to signings last summer.
Although £32m of that for Jean-Clair Todibo doesn’t kick in until this summer’s window.
But what many fans may not appreciate is just how much the Hammers have forked out solely on attacking players in the last few summers.
West Ham have actually spent well over a quarter of a billion on attackers in recent years.
West Ham cannot afford anymore transfer clangers
That’s not even including the combined £80m spent on Felipe Anderson and Sebastien Haller prior to David Moyes returning to the club.
The spending spans Rob Newman’s time as head of recruitment through to Tim Steidten and Julen Lopetegui’s disastrous attempt at a much-needed rebuild.
West Ham face having to sell players so that new manager Graham Potter and head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay can make signings this summer.
One thing is for certain there can be no more costly mistakes like these if the Hammers wants to get back to competing for a place in Europe.
West Ham’s squandered £170m on attacking players
Nikola Vlasic – £26m
Moyes and Newman brought Nikola Vlasic back to the Premier League despite the fact he had flopped at Everton previously.
West Ham clearly felt Vlasic had improved sufficiently to be worth a shot after 33 goals in 108 games for CSKA Moscow from central midfield.
He completely failed to win Moyes’ trust, though, barely featuring as he scored just one goal in 31 appearances, 19 of them starts. Vlasic’s transfer was then the centre of a FIFA investigation and wrangle after a block on payments to Russian clubs following the invasion of Ukraine. Vlasic was shipped out on loan to Torino the following season and that deal was made permanent the following summer for a reported £11m. It’s unclear how much of the £26m West Ham ended up having to pay for Vlasic in the end. But the scary thing is his deal actually had clauses which could have bumped the fee up to £33m.
Gianluca Scamacca – £35m
On paper, the tattooed 6ft 5in Italian striker Gianluca Scamacca looked to have everything needed to succeed in the Premier League.
Another Moyes-Newman signing, West Ham finally went out and signed a young exciting striker 18 months after offloading Haller for a £25m loss.
Like Haller, Scamacca has scored goals freely before and since his time at West Ham. He was Italy’s number nine when he arrived.
Within months he was barely making the Italy squad so badly did his move to east London go. Illness and knee injuries – which have also plagued him since at Atalanta – meant he played just 27 games for the Irons, scoring eight goals. Some of those were actually very important in helping West Ham win their only major trophy of the last 45 years. But he was sold back to Serie A after one season for a £7.5m loss.
Maxwel Cornet – £17.5m
Still officially owned by West Ham, Maxwel Cornet has been another disaster on Moyes and Newman’s watch.
It took over two months for Moyes to give Cornet his first Premier League start for the Hammers. And he was injured almost immediately.
He was rarely seen in the two years that followed, making just one start and being shipped out on loan to Southampton and now Genoa. The Hammers are hoping the Italian side will sign Cornet permanently this summer after a promising start.
They will be lucky to get anything north of £5-7m.
Danny Ings – £15m
With Scamacca failing to fire and West Ham struggling in the Premier League, the club went out and signed Danny Ings from Villa for £15m.
It was a panic buy in many ways and at far greater cost than the £15m outlay in fee.
Ings has been picking up a cool £125k per week since joining the Hammers in January 2023. By the time his contract is up this summer he will have earned £15m in wages, making it a £30m deal.
Ings has scored five goals in 69 appearances. Enough said.
Luis Guilherme – £25m
West Ham were trying to sell Luis Guilherme in the January window – just six months after paying £20m rising to £25m to bring him over from Brazil as an 18-year-old.
The Brazilian teen always looked an odd signing from Steidten. But many felt it marked the start of a new era of the team being built around young, exciting players.
The reality is just eight sub appearances under two managers. Some fans want to see him given time to develop. But West Ham United are not so flush they can splash out £20.5m on a player that may or may not come good.
Guilherme is another expected to be offloaded this summer and it looks highly unlikely West Ham will recoup anything close to their original outlay.
Niclas Fullkrug – £26.5m
Another summer signing who could be offloaded this summer is Niclas Fullkrug.
The German had a long history of serious injuries prior to joining West Ham as a 31-year-old.
He’s now 32 and has spent six of his first eight months out injured. Fullkrug has made 11 appearances in total, mostly as a late sub, scoring two goals.
Undoubtedly a quality finisher but there are serious question marks over whether he has the durability and pace to be a hit in the Premier League given he’ll be 33 next season.
Crysencio Summerville – £26m
West Ham will hope Crysencio Summerville can still be a big hit.
He is arguably the summer signing that has excited Hammers fans the most when he has played.
But he has been out for three months and counting. And supporters have been frustrated by claims he may not return until next season and is at risk of re-injuring himself after insisting on healing naturally and not having an operation.
The Hammers will be desperately hoping Summerville can buck the trend and be a successful attacking signing. He certainly has the potential and at 23 is young enough to go on and be a big player for West Ham. But his first season and the serious injury has made the £26m investment look a gamble now.
This list does not include Lucas Paqueta or Mohammed Kudus, who can be deemed successes in many regards, even if their form has fallen off a cliff.
Total: £170m.
Total combined goals: 18.
Cost per goal: £7.8m.
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