---
title: "Gabby Agbonlahor doubles down on West Ham top-four claim"
canonical: "https://readwestham.com/2022/02/03/gabby-agbonlahor-doubles-down-on-west-ham-top-four-claim/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Dan Clubbe"
section: "West Ham News"
published: "2022-02-03T07:00:00Z"
modified: "2022-02-03T07:04:49Z"
---

# Gabby Agbonlahor doubles down on West Ham top-four claim

Former Premier League striker Gabby Agbonlahor has doubled down on a claim suggesting [West Ham](https://readwestham.com/2022/02/02/virals-west-ham-showed-interest-in-psg-star-layvin-kurzawa/) have ‘given up’ on a possible top-four finish.

The ex-Aston Villa man made the statement on [talkSPORT](https://twitter.com/talkSPORT/status/1488791800055697410) earlier this week in the wake of the Hammers failing to strengthen their ranks during the January transfer window.

> 👀 “[#WHUFC](https://twitter.com/hashtag/WHUFC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) have given up on top four. It was the perfect chance to get [#UCL](https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw).”
>
> 🔥 “How long will Rice be happy with Europa League? He’ll go in the summer!”[@Ga11Agbon](https://twitter.com/ga11agbon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) believes West Ham have ‘given up’ top four & thinks Declan Rice will leave… [pic.twitter.com/ZySdCgqBgf](https://t.co/ZySdCgqBgf)
>
> — talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) [February 2, 2022](https://twitter.com/talkSPORT/status/1488791800055697410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Speaking to [Football Insider](https://www.footballinsider247.com/pundit-baffled-by-west-ham-sources-duvan-zapata-update-in-last-24-hours/), Agbonlahor went into further detail on the claim and the required business.

> I’m baffled. I thought in November they had to sign a striker in January, they needed more help in there. They also needed more backup for Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice as well as a centre-half, obviously. To be honest it shows West Ham’s aspirations. They obviously don’t want to get top-four because if they wanted to get top-four they would have brought in players. Maybe the club are happy with a top-six, top-seven finish but even that is not guaranteed. There are a lot of teams fighting for positions. I’m just baffled West Ham haven’t brought in anybody. Antonio is not far off a hamstring injury at times then you’re going to be left with Vlasic who, for me, is not amazing.

The 35-year-old went on to say it was a ‘very strange’ [January window](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10467287/West-Hams-failure-sign-January-left-season-risk-COLLAPSE.html) from the Irons.

Centre-forward Michail Antonio has been away during the break and has certainly put those hamstrings to test with [three games in one week](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/michail-antonio/nationalmannschaft/spieler/104124/verein_id/3671) for Jamaica.

### READ WEST HAM VERDICT

On this occasion, it would appear Agbonlahor is preaching to a choir of West Ham fans everywhere – including [Tony Cottee](https://readwestham.com/2022/02/02/west-ham-icon-left-bitterly-disappointed-by-transfer-window/).

Whilst the majority will back this [current crop](https://www.whufc.com/teams/first-team/squad) and David Moyes to the hilt, there is certainly a growing sense of an opportunity missed this term.

Albeit far from over – there are [still three competitions](https://www.whufc.com/fixtures/first-team/fixtures-and-results) to fight for – a lack of strength in depth in certain areas could well come back to bite the Hammers down the line.