West Ham United have been told to move for Lawrence Shankland.
West Ham United legend Frank McAvennie has told The Courier that the Hammers should be looking to sign Dundee United striker Lawrence Shankland.
The Hammers brought in Jarrod Bowen in January, adding the Hull City winger to their ranks in an exciting move – but no striker arrived.
Sebastien Haller needs some help, and Albian Ajeti hasn’t impressed at all since arriving since Basel, but David Moyes and co didn’t address the matter in January.
Now, McAvennie has admitted that he would ‘love’ to see West Ham go for Shankland, noting that no West Ham attackers have the mobility and movement of the Dundee United ace.
McAvennie added that you can’ teach what Shankland has, believing that the penny has dropped for him and he can make an impact in the Premier League – ideally with the Hammers.
“He’s got to go to England and I’d love him at West Ham,” said McAvennie. “I can’t believe a top Championship club or a Premier League club near the bottom of the table didn’t come in for him in the transfer window. If someone called me up and asked me about Lawrence Shankland, I’d tell them to take a chance on him. The strikers at West Ham are big lads but they don’t have the mobility of Shankland.”
“His movement in the box is brilliant. He’s a proper striker, you can’t teach what he’s got. He reacts to everything. I’d love to say you can teach people what he’s got but you can’t. If I had a magic wand I’d be down at West Ham right now teaching the strikers. There are a lot of manufactured players around at the moment but Shankland isn’t one of them. He’s had setbacks and the penny dropped for him. He’s had to really apply himself and he’s getting the rewards now,” he added.
Shankland, 24, has smashed a huge 27 goals in 28 games for Dundee United, thriving since his 62 goals in 73 games for Ayr United, whilst he’s even become a Scotland international.
The second tier of Scottish football to the Premier League is a huge jump, and some would question whether Shankland is really ready to make such a leap at this stage in his career.
Still, we’ve seen Andrew Robertson rise from the depth of Scottish football to the top of the English game, so you just never know – and fellow Scot Moyes will no doubt be aware of Shankland, but McAvennie’s dream signing seems some way off right now.
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