At this stage, it doesn’t even come as a shock that Erling Haaland has more Premier League goals for Manchester City after six matchdays than the whole West Ham United squad put together.
And while Burnley’s Maxime Esteve had done the damage already at this point – only the sixth player ever to score two own goals in the same game – Haaland just had to rub Scott Parker’s nose in it with a stoppage-time brace during Man City’s 5-1 victory last time out.
With eight from his first six appearances, though, this is not Haaland’s best start to a Premier League campaign. In fact, it is actually his joint-worst. A quite remarkable stat which goes some way to highlighting his remarkable productivity in a sky blue shirt.
As for West Ham United, while Nuno Espirito Santo lauded Jarrod Bowen after the skipper took his own tally to a respectable three from a half-dozen starts, they would need to score twice at Arsenal on Sunday to equal Haaland’s individual tally.
Callum Wilson and Niclas Fullkrug have just one between them.
So, after Hammers News revealed that Nuno has already discussed West Ham’s plans for the January transfer window, it should come as no real surprise to see striker links emerge in the autumnal gossip columns.
According to Italian publication Tuttosport, the name of Parma hitman Mateo Pellegrino is one to keep an eye on heading into the New Year.
West Ham United linked with Parma’s Erling Haaland-esque striker Mateo Pellegrino
Roma, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal, and Tottenham Hotspur are also mentioned in Tuttosport’s report. Interestingly, so too are Nottingham Forest.
Perhaps, with Hammers News having been told that Nuno will have a big say on transfers going forward, Pellegrino is a player who caught the 51-year-old’s eye at the City Ground. A target he takes with him to East London.
Speaking of Haaland, meanwhile, Parma teammate Keita Balde was asked after Sunday’s brace against Torino whether Pellegrino could become the Stadio Tardini’s answer to Man City’s Norse god.
“We hope so,” Balde responded, via Tuttomercatoweb. He’s a very important and decisive player for us. He can help the team a lot. We saw that [against Torino].
“If he continues to work like this, he can be a top-level player.”
Pellegrino, who was born in Spain but can also represent Argentina at international level, opened up on his admiration for Haaland when he joined Parma from Velez Sarsfield eight months ago [TMW].
The two-time UEFA Cup winners reportedly rejected a £13 million bid from an unnamed foreign club only a half-a-season into Pellegrino’s Parma career. They feel he will command fees in the region of £25 million before long.
The one-time Valencia and Inter Milan youngster does not quite have as many goals to his name as his idol in 2025/26. But, dropping the ‘ketchup bottle’ analogy after ending his Serie A drought with two against Torino, Pellegrino does now have five in eight across all competitions.
Malick Diouf would surely love playing alongside Pellegrino
The protective helmet he donned during Sunday’s clash, meanwhile, speaks to the physicality with which this rough-and-tumble number nine goes about his business.
“If a ball flies high into the box, I won’t hold back. [I want] a header and a goal,” Pellegrino told Gazzetta dello Sport recently.
“What kind of guy am I? A simple person who works hard every day to improve and who has a clear goal in mind. My season’s goal target? I will say 12-15.”
Pellegrino used that 6ft 4ins frame to double Parma’s lead at the weekend. Six of his last seven goals have come with his head.
One suspects El Hadji Malick Diouf, in particular, would relish having a near two-metre target to aim for inside the penalty area. It was Diouf’s ‘absolutely fantastic’ delivery which created Jarrod Bowen’s equaliser during Monday’s 1-1 draw with Everton.
Cruzeiro talisman Kaio Jorge has been mentioned too in recent times. Though Brazil international Jorge played down those West Ham rumours last week.
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