Spurs outcast is just what West Ham need

West Ham will be targeting Emmanuel Adebayor in the January transfer window according to reports last week, and a loan deal for the outcast Spurs forward could be exactly what the Hammers need.

Adebayor is apparently high up on a list of 19 strikers West Ham are said to be looking at. Sam Allardyce will be hoping that he can bring in the services of at least one of those players to spearhead the Hammers attack, which has been decidedly blunt so far this season.

Andy Carroll’s return date is still unknown and injuries to Ricardo Vaz Te and Mladen Petric have added to Big Sam’s worries. The only options for the gaffer have been an unfit Carlton Cole and an unimpressive Modibo Maiga. This situation has led Allardyce to experimenting with the 4-6-0 formation, which may have worked so effectively in the superb 3-0 victory over Tottenham but has since only highlighted just how much West Ham have been lacking.

Although Cole scored in the 3-0 victory over Fulham at the weekend and Maiga played better than usual, we mustn’t be lured into a false sense of security and forget that goalscoring reinforcements are desperately needed.

The opposition that the Hammers cast aside on Saturday was feeble at best. Having lost six games in a row leading up to the defeat at Upton Park, Fulham were clearly lacking in confidence and looked as pitiful against Big Sam’s men as the Irons did against Chelsea the week before.

Much tougher tests lay ahead.

To prepare for those, West Ham must recruit players that are able to find the net on a regular basis. Sadly, they will not be able to bring anyone in for another month. But, when the window does open, capturing Adebayor on a short-term deal would be an excellent bit of business.

Despite having a reputation for being ineffective – why else would he be unwanted by Real Madrid, Manchester City and Spurs? – Adebayor has been known as a quality striker (if only for short spells) with all the clubs he has played for. He often begins playing for a new club by scoring a hatful of goals when his ability then stagnates and he moves onto somewhere else to repeat the process. Being as though West Ham really only need someone there to steady the ship for a small period of time, Adebayor could be perfect for the Hammers.

The Togo international has scored 150 goals in 399 appearances for club and country during his career, giving him a much better goalscoring record than Carlton Cole and Modibo Maiga combined. Between them the West Ham forwards have scored 119 goals in 547 appearances. So, Adebayor is proven to be a more effective goalscorer than the Hammers’ current attacking options. Furthermore, his build and aerial ability are ideally suited to Big Sam’s preferred style of play.

Although taking Tottenham’s rejects never sits well with the claret and blue army, the team is severely lacking a cutting edge, and desperate times call for desperate measures.

The last time West Ham were forced to take the cast-offs of their North London rivals was in the 2003/2004 season when the club was at its lowest point in recent history having dropped out of the top division for the first time in 10 years.

This saw Matthew Etherington and Bobby Zamora arrive at Upton Park as part of the deals taking Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe to White Hart Lane, while the vultures picked apart what remained of the ‘Golden Generation’ of the Academy of Football. It is worth remembering how Zamora and Etherington both became faithful servants to the club and were both admired by the vast majority of fans.

It’s highly unlikely that Adebayor would ever be held in as high regard as Etherington or Zamora were he to make the trip to East London – he probably wouldn’t be around long enough for starters – but he would be effective and the square peg for the square hole in West Ham’s attack.