It was clear this season that West Ham needed to make some changes and improve the squad in all areas of the field. Slaven Bilic has positively been involved in the market, signing great talent in the form of Dimitri Payet and youth from the academy. However, there is now a clear message for Bilic, buy a striker, and its quickly becoming a distress call.
Andy Carroll’s injury prevents him playing until October and Difrara Sakho’s suspension has highlighted a huge gap in the Hammers squad. The team is lacking a second, experienced and natural goal scorer to replace Sakho when needed and it proved to be an issue last season as well. While Modibo Maiga and Mauro Zarate are sensible options on paper, the two Europa Leagues legs against Birkirkara F.C. proved that without Sakho West Ham struggle to score goals. James Tomkins provided the win in the first leg and only penalties saw the Irons through to the next round. This made signing a new striker Bilic’s top priority and the hunt began.
Over the last few weeks West Ham have been linked with Loic Remy, Mattia Destro, Charlie Austin, Javier Hernandez and Emmanuel Adebayor. All of these players would have been a suitable backup for Sakho, or even starters, but each and every one of these deals so far has fallen through. Remy and Hernandez are both staying put, although Hernandez will be available if Manchester United signs another striker.
Adebayor expressed that he didn’t want to move to the club and Destro has shown a preference to Florentina. Austin could still be a potential buy for the Hammers who have already had a bid rejected. QPR seem reluctant to let the striker go unless a £15m fee is met and with other Premier League clubs showing a strong interest West Ham may have to up their bid or go back to the drawing board.
The constant knock backs and ever growing pressure means Bilic’s needs someone fast and there are some potentials appearing on his radar which may be beneficial. A good investment could be Marko Livaja who has been training with the Hammers with the permission of his Russian side Rubin Kazan. The 21 year old had a poor last season not scoring a single goal, but the Croatian has worked with Bilic before and with some strong management he could get back to goal scoring form
German Denis could give extra attacking options when needed. The 33 year old has scored 69 goals and assisted in 25 more throughout 226 Serie A appearances. West Ham may be able to swoop him for a low price as his club Atalanta are struggling financially and may look to unload him with a slashed price. While these two look to be the more likely options there is also the potential for Alandre Pato to join the ranks. With 51 goals in 117 games Pato has appeared on the radar and West Ham could be a favoured club if an offer is put in.
Finally Fabio Borini could be looking for a move having a poor season at Liverpool last year. While not performing brilliantly the Irons need a striker to take over when other options are not available and to help with the spread of matches facing the team this season. Anyone of these could fill that position but with deadline day ever looming and the team already showing how much they struggle without an experienced, natural goal scorer the pressure is on to get the team back on track. Bilic however, needs to make the right decision to ensure results rather than panic buying.
