West Ham’s striker woes has forced their hand in terms of a return to first-team activity for Diafra Sakho.
According to the Mirror, Slaven Bilic is ready to bring the Senegalese striker back into the first-team squad as soon as possible after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Simone Zaza, Andy Carroll, Andre Ayew, Jonathan Calleri and Ashley Fletcher have all failed to find the net so far this season in varying amounts of playing time, but the issue remains the same – West Ham don’t have a striker who can score consistently.
This has forced Slaven Bilic to experiment with using Michail Antonio, West Ham’s top scorer this season with five goals, as a make-shift striker but he’s failed to find the net whilst playing that role in the side.
As for Sakho, he’s not featured for the club in any capacity since the final game of last season.
He was set to leave the club after voicing his outrage at West Ham’s very public chase of a new striker throughout the summer window and felt aggrieved that he was not handed a new contract while some of his teammates signed new terms.
Sakho refused to travel on the pre-season tour of Austria and saw a £16m move to West Brom fall through due to a suspected failed medical. Soon after, the Hammers medical staff identified a back injury which has kept the Senegalese striker out all season.
Recently, the club have stepped up his fitness and conditioning work, undergoing his own pre-season in effect in a bid to get him ready for Premier League football as soon as feasibly possible.
After joining the Hammers for £4m from FC Metz in the summer of 2014, Sakho netted 12 goals in 26 appearances in his debut season in English football making him somewhat of a fan favourite.
However, an unsuccessful, injury-hit second season at the club saw him score just seven times in 24 appearances, but it was his attitude and off the field antics which burnt some of the bridges between him, the fans and the club.
It’s believed he’s worked hard behind the scenes and the Hammers, given their striker situation, are now ready to hand him a reprieve and see what he can offer the current side who are in desperate need of a striker.
Sakho won’t be ready in time to play Stoke this Saturday at the London Stadium, but he is targeting a return to action after the international break, with the trip to White Hart Lane to play Tottenham touted as his possible season debut.
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