Potential Hammer? Sporting Lisbon’s World Cup ace

Who are ya?

Islam Slimani is a 26 year old Algerian striker who currently plays for Sporting Lisbon, yet stayed comfortably under the world’s radar until he shone in Algeria’s excellent form in the World Cup. Slimani has arguably been the star of the side, and was instrumental in getting Algeria past the group stages for the first time in their nation’s history. He also fired them to be the first African nation to have scored four goals in a single World Cup match.

There are few football writers who haven’t mentioned us placing a bid for the impressive Algerian, and you can read about the rumours here: http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/484677/Newcastle-West-Ham-and-Stoke-vie-for-6m-rated-Alegerian-striker-Islam-Slimani

Big Sam, spend some money!

The Express is reporting that Slimani is available for a bargain £6million, with other news outlets pricing him similarly at £6.5million. Not bad, considering the striker has scored the same number of goals in just three games at the World Cup as Andy Carroll scored during the entirety of last season.

Believability factor

Well, it’s not like West Ham to be linked with an impressive player who we don’t end up signing, so I’m sure it has to be true! This is not the first time West Ham have been linked with Slimani – apparently we have tried to sign him on loan earlier this season. It’s a shame we weren’t able to do the deal before he impressed at the World Cup; now we’re facing competition from other English clubs and are sure to have his price driven up as well.

Game changer?

He certainly could be. Slimani has truly impressed at this World Cup. Not only has he scored goals, he’s also set up an assist. We need a striker who can score goals, and Slimani might be just the ticket. He has only had three shots on target this World Cup, which is relatively low, but he doesn’t seem to need a lot of shots in order to put the ball away. Last season for Sporting he racked up eight goals and four assists in 26 games, and we certainly could use an affordable goal scorer up front for the Hammers.