What were West Ham thinking as striker David Moyes scouted extensively is an instant hero at his new club.
They say hindsight is a wonderful thing, but for West Ham they had plenty of foresight to sign the perfect David Moyes striker and didn’t take it.
With Gianluca Scamacca gone and Michail Antonio possibly on the way out too, there’s no doubt West Ham need to sign a striker in the summer transfer window.
No matter what Moyes says publicly, he will be thinking the same thing.
The Scot has been championing Jarrod Bowen as a forward option. But should something happen to West Ham’s Prague hero, where would the goals come from then?
The Hammers have been linked with plenty of forwards of late.
And one in particular had been widely expected to join West Ham as the heir to Antonio in the shape of Viktor Gyokeres.
Sweden star Gyokeres had sent a come and get me plea amid very real interest from West Ham earlier in the window.
West Ham boss Moyes spent a lot of time doing his homework on the all-action forward with The Sun claiming the Scot had personally attended several Coventry games last season to run the rule over Gyokeres ahead of a summer move.
And it was claimed by various journalists quoting people inside the club that Gyokeres was one of West Ham’s top targets this summer.
What were West Ham thinking as striker David Moyes scouted extensively is an instant hero at new club
It was easy to see why. The powerful, skilful and hard-working 25-year-old scored 22 goals and provided 12 assists in 50 games for Coventry last season.
In the end he moved to Sporting for just £17.5m – the same amount West Ham paid for Maxwel Cornet last summer.
With that as background, one has to ask the question:
What were West Ham thinking as striker Moyes scouted extensively is an instant hero at new club.
Two goals, man of the match and a near perfect rating for star West Ham could have got for just £17.5m
Gyokeres scored for fun in pre-season as he hit the ground running in Portugal.
And on his league debut the brilliant Swede notched a brace in front of his new home fans to help Sporting win 3-2.
He was voted man of the match and received a 9.12/10 rating from football analysis experts WhoScored.
With a dearth of forwards in the Moyes mould on the market, the decision not to bring in Gyokeres looks a real error of judgement
Here was a player in a position West Ham desperately need to strengthen and who, by all accounts from some very reliable sources, was there on a plate for the club at a reasonable price.
Gyokeres has all the ingredients needed to be a hit in the Premier League and was absolutely ideal for Moyes’ system and style.
And with Antonio now being linked with an £8m move to Saudi, the club could have recouped half of the cost anyway.
The striker looks destined for big things. And West Ham can forget about trying to pinch him off Sporting in the coming seasons.
Because the club announced they have inserted an £86m release clause in his contract at his unveiling.
With a dearth of forwards in the Moyes mould on the market, the decision not to bring in Gyokeres looks a real error of judgement from West Ham.