He could yet prove to be a Hammers hero with two games to go but West Ham already have a replacement lined up for £20m flop striker Pablo Felipe.
The Brazilian arrived at West Ham in January at the insistence of Nuno Espirito Santo in a deal with an eyebrow-raising amount given Pablo was a relative unknown outside of Portuguese football.
At first Pablo’s insatiable workrate and tireless graft earned him many admirers among the West Ham faithful.
But it is fair to say Pablo has been found wanting – and then some – when it comes to having the necessary quality to be a Premier League forward.
West Ham want rising giant Fall to replace flop striker Pablo
The 22-year-old has barely registered a shot let alone come close to scoring a goal since joining the Hammers in January.
West Ham could yet pay the ultimate price for more poor recruitment by being relegated to the Championship.
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Now it seems West Ham have already given up on Pablo.
Because Hammers scouts, led by brain-box talent spotter Max Hahn, are targeting 21-year-old Pape Moussa Fall.
They say the bigger they come, the harder they fall – and they certainly makes for a good play on words when it comes to the giant 6ft 6in Senegalese striker who is in the Hammers’ sights.
Fall is currently on loan at Belgian side RAAL La Louviere from Metz – a club West Ham have done business with in the past.
Fall has scored 13 goals this season and that has alerted West Ham and a host of French clubs to his talent according to L’Equipe and TEAMtalk.
The obligatory YouTube highlights video describes Fall as a ‘nightmare for defenders’ due to his towering height, which is just one inch shy of Peter Crouch.
If not Pablo – who plays up front? 🤔
This TalkingPoints user might have summed up how fans are feeling right now 👇
As you might imagine, Fall looks leggy, rangy and somewhat raw.
But he has a good turn of pace, uses his physicality well and is not afraid to try and take on defenders.
What the highlight reels don’t show is Fall’s worrying injury history.
Back in January last year, the reported Hammers target suffered a torn cruciate ligament.
It came just as Fall was on the rise having scored eight goals in 16 matches across all competitions with Seraing.
The injury kept Fall out for eight months but he has been a near ever-present since returning in September.
Perhaps West Ham are forward-planning for a potential Championship campaign where the ball spends more time in the air than it does in the Premier League.
Where would Fall rank among the tallest Premier League strikers?
He is the same height (6ft 6in) as Dutchman Wout Weghorst who played for Burnley and Man United.
Ex Liverpool forward Crouch is one inch bigger than the West Ham target, as is 6ft 7in Sasa Kalajdzic who played for Wolverhampton Wanderers and ex Southampton striker Paul Onuachu.
Former Birmingham forward Nikola Žigić was a half an inch taller at 6ft 7.5in.
Fall is just two inches shorter than the tallest Prem strikers on record, 6ft 8in former Everton forward Lacina Traoré – who was known as “Big Tree” – and Stefan Maierhofer, an Austrian forward who also played for Wolves.
Fall is also one inch shorter than the tallest footballer to ever play for West Ham, American goalkeeper Ian Feuer who stood at 6ft 7in.
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