There was no time to rest after the Premier League was over, just one day later the transfer window opened and with a shortened summer due to the pandemic, clubs must act quickly to secure their targets. For West Ham David Moyes has stayed true to those principles, rapidly sorting out Tomas Soucek’s personal terms to sign him after the end of his six-month loan permanently.
Another piece of business that the former Sunderland manager has been linked with completing is a reunion with 21-year-old striker Josh Maja. The Nigerian international is now playing his football in Ligue 1 for Bordeaux and had a particularly promising season before the campaign was cut short.
The 21-year-old would probably arrive at the London Stadium as a prospect for development who could provide squad depth, similar to £8m arrival Albian Ajeti, though ideally more successfully than the Swiss striker who has no goals.
Maja found the back of the net six times in as many starts for the 13th place French side, making a further 15 appearances from the bench this season. Additionally, the centre forward also scored on both of his starts in the domestic cup competitions, giving him a total of eight goals this term.
Impressively, the 21-year-old also provided two assists in the French first division, to contribute a goal involvement every 72.5 minutes is all competitions for the Girondins. It is incredibly impressive what the young prospect has achieved during his first full season abroad and involving himself in over a goal per game.
Maja finished as the 13th place sides’ joint top-scorer in all competitions on eight strikes and will have caught the attention of not just his coaches, but other teams across Europe, such as Rangers who are also reportedly keen.
West Ham may face a battle to bring him to London, but given the promise Maja displayed in the lower leagues with Sunderland, and now in Ligue 1, he would be worth pursuing. Currently, both of Moyes’ primary options up front are 27 or over, and the Irons could do with an injection of youth in the forward line, especially considering Ajeti appears set to head to Celtic Park on loan. Maja has proven he can exert an influence on matches from the bench this term and he could even threaten Michail Antonio or Sebastian Haller’s places in the pecking order.
