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Who is the 16-goal striker Big Sam is scouting?

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Josip DrmicSam Allardyce is reportedly flying out to Germany on Saturday to watch FC Nurnberg’s top goal scorer in their match against Wolfsburg.

The man in question is Josip Drmic, the Switzerland international is in just his first season at FC Nurnberg since joining the Bundesliga outfit last July. Like most West Ham fans, I’ve never previously heard of him, so just who is he?

Josip Drmic doesn’t have the most Swiss of surnames, and that’s because he is of Croatian descent but was born and raised in Switzerland. He was spotted as a youth player by top Swiss side – FC Zurich. After spending eight years in the youth set-up, Josip got his first chance to represent the club at senior level, playing for the FC Zurich II’s. It was here that Josip’s goal-scoring nous came into effect as he ended his first season with 26 goals in his 26 appearances for the seconds. This prompted Drmic to get a call-up to the FC Zurich first team aged just 17. He scored his first goal for the first team 2 seasons later after a rather sporadic time and scored 13 league goals in his final season with FC Zurich before his move to Germany.

Josip Drmic represented Switzerland for the first time aged 17, making just one appearance for the Under-18′s. He swiftly moved onto the Under-19′s and scored six goals in seven appearances. He scored another six goals for the Under-21′s and recently earned himself a call-up to the Switzerland senior team, and scored his first two goals vs. Croatia in March 2014.

FC Nurnberg signed Drmic on a four-year contract last July, and in his first season Drmic has scored 16 league goals in 28 appearances, making him joint-second in the league top scorers, just one goal behind Bundesliga “superstars” Mario Mandzukic and Robert Lewandowski.

All that, and he is just 21 years of age, combined with the fact that he’s playing for a side sitting in one of the automatic relegation spots, will certainly create high interest around Europe. We are therefore certainly going to face immense competition. But we are in the fight for him and with the pulling power of London to hand – we always stand a chance.

There’s no doubt the chances of Drmic leaving FC Nurnberg increases ten-fold if his current club get relegated from the Bundesliga, and there’s by no means in West Ham’s hands as to whom he will join, but there’s a chance and he’ll have a chance to impress Big Sam on Saturday against Wolfsburg. A truly exciting prospect and West Ham are showing interest. It’s a start.

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