Remember Burak Yilmaz? Some West Ham United fans will.
The Turkish striker was linked with the Hammers every other week just a matter of years ago, but no deal ever materialised.
Slaven Bilic even admitted to The Guardian in January 2016 that he wanted Yilmaz at West Ham, but Emmanuel Emenike was signed instead.
Bilic hailed Yilmaz was ‘very good’ and ‘excellent’ back then, clearly a huge fan of the burly front man having seen plenty of him in Turkey.
West Ham missed out, and Yilmaz is hitting the headlines tonight having shown that class really is permanent.
Now 35, the Lille striker has hit a stunning hat-trick to fire Turkey to a 4-2 win over the Netherlands, securing a huge World Cup qualifying victory.
Yilmaz has hit 11 goals in 22 games for Lille too this season, showing that he isn’t slowing down despite his advancing years.
West Ham fans may have been watching his exploits tonight and wondering what could have been had Bilic got his way and signed the veteran hitman five years ago.
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