West Ham target Besiktas forward

Should West Ham fail in their pursuit of Juventus forward Fabio Quagliarella, they have a back-up plan.

The player in question is Besiktas and Portugal centre forward Hugo Almeida. With current club Besiktas hoping to trim down the wage bill, it was initially reported that they were willing to listen to offers for the player, but since then things have changed and it would now appear that they are willing to let the frontman go on a free.

Almeida has previously stated his desire to play in the Premiership-and at 29 opportunities will become limited as he isn’t getting any younger.

After establishing himself in the Porto B side, Hugo went on to play for the first team but failed to replicate the tremendous goal-scoring, so he found himself frequently loaned out, until in 2007 where Hugo made the transition into German football; signing for Werder Bremen, where he would go on to impress and score regularly.

After a successful spell in Germany, Almeida signed for Besiktas for a couple of million Euros and although he has performed well for his current side, he’s current wages are too much for the club to be able to maintain.

Should we continue to fail in securing other targets, I feel that Hugo could provide some decent competition with Modibo Maiga and Andy Carroll. He mainly plays in the type of target man role; so he’s used to leading the line and using his strength to bully defenders, traits Sam Allardyce looks for in a striker!

Although Hugo Almeida may not be our first choice preference, I feel that he shouldn’t be overlooked just yet.