A lot of West Ham fans will want to see quality strikers sign for the club this summer and recent transfer rumours will certainly be keeping fans happy.
Alexandre Lacazette is the clear number one target and the Hammers are doing all they can to tempt the French striker to the Olympic Stadium this summer. A bid of around £32 million has been rejected by Lyon as they are holding out for closer to £40 million. It looks as if the Hammers will try and meet the French club in the middle by offering £35 million. Although it may sound like a lot of money, it is certainly a figure you would expect to pay for one of the best strikers in Europe.
Although Lacazette is dominating the headlines, we should also take note of the potential departures of Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia. Although the club have made it clear that no players will leave before a replacement has been found, it is important that we still find a suitable ‘second’ striker to keep the squad as strong as it can be.
With a potentially lengthy European campaign ahead, the Hammers will need as much strength in depth as possible and it is vital that we have quality up front even when the club is not fielding its strongest team. If Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia depart the club, it makes sense that two strikers need to come in as well. Andy Carroll is certainly a quality striker on his day but there needs to be competition in such a long-winded season.
The likes of Jonathan Calleri and Saido Berahino have been linked with the club in recent days and this is encouraging news as both players have the potential to become very good strikers. The club must look to improve so the Hammers need to replace departing players with someone better.
It looks as if the club will continue to track Christian Benteke’s situation throughout the transfer window and he is the sort of player West Ham need to provide more competition in attack. Enner Valencia has threatened to produce the goods on a number of occasions in a West Ham shirt but it hasn’t quite worked out for him so far. If he was to depart the club, a player of Benteke’s ability would be a better replacement.
There have been rumours that Valencia was the subject of a proposed swap deal with Manchester City, resulting in Wilfried Bony joining the Hammers. Although this sounds extremely unlikely, Bony is the kind of striker we should be looking for to add competition in the forward line.
If Bilic can form an effective strike force for next season, it could make all the difference for the Hammers. The top scorers of Norwich City, Aston Villa and Bournemouth were the only teams who had top scorers who scored fewer goals than Andy Carroll and Dimitri Payet (9 league goals) in the Premier League last season. It is clear that the Hammers need a reliable goalscorer.
If the team finished 7th without a prolific, reliable striker, there’s real hope for the Hammers next season if they snap up a prolific forward.
