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Who is the striker catching Big Sam’s attention?

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Duvan ZapataIt has recently been reported that West Ham have agreed a fee to sign Colombian striker, Duvan Zapata. This news shocked everyone, as it seemed as though it had been pulled out of a hat. Nobody knows who he is, so I have tried to find out some information on Zapata.

He is currently 22 years old and plays for Estudiantes in the Argentinian league. Zapata is also 6 ft 2 inches. We can all now see why Allardyce would be interested in a player such as Zapata. He has represented his country at the U20s level and has scored 1 goal in 5 games.

For Estudiantes, he has scored 14 goals in 30 games so he basically averaging a goal every other game. The fee that was supposedly agreed between the two clubs was £6.7m, which seems like a hefty amount for a player that is unheard of. Nobody knew what to make of the news when it first broke out. However, there hasn’t been any news on it since.

A problem that West Ham may encounter with this deal is some work permit issues. It has been known on a few occasions that English clubs have found it hard to get work permits for players who play in the South American leagues. One of the most well known was when Falcao was offered to a number of English clubs but none of them could get him a work permit.

After looking through a lot of Twitter discussions, it seems as though a lot of people from Argentina highly rate Zapata. These would be the best people to ask what Zapata is like as they see him play week in week out.

I personally can’t see this deal happening so I wouldn’t look too much into it if I were you. Hopefully we will sign other players with more experience and better known.

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14 comments

  • Deano says:

    Defiantly need another striker though. One that can find the net! First post, COYI!!!!!

  • ian says:

    why does it have to someone who is more well known?usually that means a larger fee involved,zapata for me looks like a great buy.

  • larrythelaffer says:

    He’s nothing special really

  • Bobby says:

    Ok big fee but smaller wages, probably 20k compared to 120k ba will demand… Short sighted reporting it must be said.

  • Carlos says:

    Watched him on utube.
    Looks pony!
    If we don’t buy a decent forward, when Carroll gets injured we’re be in trouble

    • Graham says:

      Yer and YouTube is the place to find out if a player is any good!!! Seriously mate, next you’ll be saying his stats on football manager aren’t very good!

  • Bryan says:

    I have said it before ,he should go for Gary Hooper!!!!! nuf said.

  • steve says:

    We need a goalscorer. Full stop. We scored 2 more than Reading last season and we know what happened to them! Carroll can’t possibly go all season without some time out. Benteke was unknown until he banged in 23 last year. Maybe Zapata can do 15. I’d be happy with that. I’ll trust Sam’s judgement. For now!!!!! Come on you Irons!

  • Graham says:

    We shouldn’t buy players based on how ‘well known’ they are. Emily heskey is well known and available, so is darius vassell!! No one in Europe had really heard of ronaldiniho before his initial move to Europe when he joined PSG. We have a scouting network set up in South America so when someone comes highly recommended from them, they are worth looking at more closely.

  • emmet o boyle says:

    im sick of this. are we going to buy a top striker who can score goals alongside Andy Carroll. Big Sam get the finger out.

  • Bav says:

    No one had really heard of Frank McAvennie, unless they lived in Scotland and look at the goals he scored

  • Gary says:

    Awful ‘article’. As for strikers, if we’re looking for someone who can score goals, play second fiddle to Andy Carroll and know that they’re not gonna be a consistent starter, look no further than Adam le Fondre. He scored 12 league goals last year (almost double what our top scorer managed) and started most games on the bench! I doubt many will agree but he’ll be cheap and like I said he won’t come in expecting to start every week.

    • dan says:

      Great shout le fondre was brilliant last season seeing as he got 12 goals when most were from him coming on from the bench so it would be a good signing in my eyes

  • Greg Richardson says:

    How is 12 almost double our top scorer…didnt Nolan finish season with 10 league goals!?

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