West Ham United are desperate for a new striker, but signing one is proving difficult.
According to a report from ESPN, West Ham United are no longer interested in signing Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho this summer, instead turning their attention to other targets, but the timing of the claim could be telling.
After all, the Hammers have been linked with the Nigeria international for most of the summer, they know the price it would take to sign him and he would immediately transform their front line.
One can feel that after initially being reluctant to accept City’s release clause, West Ham have allowed Leicester City to steal a match on them and they are now stepping aside (again) to save face.
Slaven Bilic’s side should not be turning their back on one of the Premier League’s most exciting and, most importantly, available strikers this summer. They should be fighting until they either sign him or all hope is lost.
As a result of the latest claim, it is starting to look like West Ham will be beaten at every turn, for target after target, until their fans are faced with another Simone Zaza scenario.
It is a somewhat pessimistic approach to take at this early stage of the transfer window, but if Iheanacho goes the way of Henry Onyekuru and opts for a club other than West Ham, and Olivier Giroud follows the latter to Everton this summer, a worrying pattern will be emerging.
These are all players who could be bought. The problem for West Ham is that they are struggling to get deals over the line.
It is up to the West Ham board to get this right, because Bilic cannot afford to head into another campaign without the squad depth and quality to compete.
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