1. André-Pierre Gignac
The last two seasons have been great for the French striker. He netted 16 goals in 35 appearances during the 2013/2014 season, followed by 21 goals in 37 games last campaign. To point out, in the 2013/2014 season L’OM finished sixth, with their manager Elie Baup, sacked mid-December, followed by the departure of interim manager Anigo at the end of the season. It didn’t matter to Gignac as he still produced. Some strikers need to get the ball delivered into their feet, but he isn’t one of those strikers. His agility makes him able to strike the ball from even the most tangled of situations, offering great flair with volleyed shots. His contract expired at L’OM because they couldn’t keep up with his wage demands anymore. He probably wants to earn more than he does now. Maybe this could be a great collaboration with Slaven Bilic, whose views might line up with his, sealing a partnership.
2. Loïc Remy
Before moving to QPR, Remy did a superb job at Marseille and Nice. In his first season at Marseille he managed to score 15 goals in 31 appearances followed by 12 goals in 29 games the following season. Not just that, but he also managed to score in Europe four times before moving to London. With his physicality, he isn’t a pushover for English defenders, as he has proved while at Newcastle. His goal-scoring ability comes from a great diversity of attacking strengths, and a decent height results in good heading ability and with a great strike and good pace he could be beneficial to West Ham’s project. However, in my opinion you should never sign an out of form player, unless there is a factor that can change his form. We would never have signed Andy Carroll if it weren’t for Sam Allardyce’s preferred style. Slaven Bilic is charmed by Remy which might do wonders for his form. With Diego Costa at the front of the pecking order at Chelsea, he never got the chance to really prove himself.
3. Javier Hernandez
I’m going to be biased on this verdict. Why? I can’t help to love Chicharito. His nickname (which means ‘little pea’ in Spanish) gives him a down to earth image. Just like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer he has been described as a ‘baby-faced assassin’. Being described as a ‘goal-poacher’, his abilities range from far beyond that. Sir Alex Ferguson described him as quick, two-footed and has a natural ability of scoring goals. He’s proved himself to be Premier League worthy in his first two seasons at Old Trafford. But just like I said about Remy, I don’t fancy signing out of form players, and the same goes for him. He fell out of the pecking order at Manchester United when Robin van Persie joined the Mancunians and even fell down more after RVP’s superb first season. At Real Madrid he didn’t get a chance to shine either, having Karim Benzema in front of him, not to mention the left winger that always fancies himself being a striker (along with his huge ego); Cristiano Ronaldo.
4. Charlie Austin
Following QPR’s relegation, the Premier League proven striker is set to leave Loftus Road and continue his career elsewhere. Former Hammer and beloved striker Dean Ashton has backed him in the rumours of joining West Ham. A bricklayer in 2008 transformed into a Premier League footballer in 2015. Needless to say, Austin has a goal scoring ability, despite the league in which he plays. He did the same at QPR. With the team failing in the Premier League, Austin kept on scoring. On multiple occasions I was quite astonished with his positioning. He has a great sense of being on the right spot at the right time. There is no need for fancy flicks and technical highlights that can be used in fancy football montages, just pure and old-fashioned netting the ball.
5. Claudio Beauvue
Beauvue has a great ability of scoring headers, but we have Andy Carroll for that job. Other than scoring headers, he scored a lot of penalties. But we have Mark Noble for that job. Frankly, I’m not too keen on buying a French Ricky van Wolfswinkel (If you didn’t know, at FC Utrecht in his final season before moving to Sporting Lisbon, he only scored penalties and tap-ins.)
6. Demba Ba
Having played under Bilic last season, it was kind of predictable that he was related to joining West Ham again. When that message emerged, Twitter was on the edge of explosion, having all the West Ham fans tweeting all kinds of declarations of love for him. I don’t think I have to explain his qualities, as we have seen them for ourselves. He is a Premier League proven player, who we all would love to come back. But unfortunately for all of us, Senol Gunes has said that he didn’t want their star players (including Töre) to leave Besiktas. So if we really would want him, we’d have to pay a lot of money, which I don’t think the Davids would like to spend.
7. Burak Yilmaz
The Turkish striker has been linked to several English clubs as early as 2012. Both Liverpool and Tottenham have been interested in his services. Being a strong player on the ball, this might be beneficial in the Premier League. He can make up for Valencia’s weaknesses. The work rate of the Turkish strikers has been proven over several years of playing in the Süperlig. However, being nearly 30 years of age and having a contract until 2019, I don’t think it would be too wise to try and get him. It is not just that, until the 2010/2011 season he didn’t show his goal-scoring ability at five different Turkish clubs. Another fact to take in to account is that he has never played outside the Turkish league, except for a few European games.
8. Joselu
The tall Spanish striker was very productive at Real Madrid Castilla (playing alongside Alvaro Morata), scoring 40 goals in 72 appearances. But after that spell, his career hasn’t been so bright anymore.
After moving to Hoffenheim in 2012, his production rate got quite moderate, so to say. He is strong in the air, which might be useful in the Premier League. Other than that there is not much known about him.
9. Mbaye Niang
Being only 20 years of age, Niang has quite some experience, with almost 5 years of professional football under his belt. He joined AC Milan in 2012 after playing one season at Caen, France. He differs from the other strikers in this article, in the way that his play involves a lot more dribbling and technical aspects of the game. He prefers to cut inside instead of waiting for the ball being delivered to him. However, despite having quite some experience for his age, he is only 20 years of age, and the club is looking for a real striker, not a prospect. This difficulty is arguable, but if he is subbed on, he needs to produce, not just gain experience.
10. Mattia Destro
Having been loaned out to AC Milan for the second half of the season, it hasn’t been his season. With the team struggling, he failed to make a huge impact for Il Rossoneri. His great finishing makes him well suited for Italian football. However, I sense his style is quite a like that of Ciro Immobile, who was very effective in the Serie A, but failed to produce in the Bundesliga at Dortmund, where they play a very different kind of football, which involves way less defending (Catenaccio was invented in Italy for name’s sake) and way more pressure.
Final Verdict:
Gignac is a great player that could fit in well, but he hasn’t proved himself outside France. He is on a free and his wage demands are quite reasonable. Despite all that, he’s apparently about to join Tigres in Mexico. And we’d thought that Ayew was a money grabber. Beauvue only scores headers and penalties. Yilmaz is almost 30 years old, has a contract until 2019 and hasn’t proven himself outside the Turkish league. Ba would cost a lot of money, but would be a lovely signing. Has worked with Bilic as well, which seems to be a good collaboration. Hernandez is a lovely player and might find his form back at West Ham. His qualities range far beyond the average striker. It truly depends on the wishes of Bilic. Remy is being linked with West Ham so intensely, that we’re most likely to sign him if everything goes following the plan. His diversity, physicality and pace will come very well to us. His style is much alike Enner Valencia’s, except he can stay on his feet. Austin is being linked with Newcastle so strongly, but I would love to see him at West Ham. He is diverse, strong, and good in the air. He is an all-round English striker who can become one of England’s best strikers. Joselu is relatively unknown but neither did we hear of Diafra Sakho, and we all knew how that worked out. I’d give him a fair shot; he came on the radar of Tony Henry for a reason. Destro is not the type of player for the Premier League. Niang is talented and a great prospect, and I wouldn’t mind signing him. But when he plays, he needs to produce.
In terms of reason, I would say that Remy is the most likely and best signing. He is available for a reasonable price, is Premier League proven and is a player Bilic wants to play. In second place I’d put Charlie Austin. He’s the player that might not be the most creative, but does what he does best: scoring goals. Third would be Demba Ba. A large fee has to be paid for him to join us, but it’s certain he would bring what we want to see: goals.
