If West Ham United think Moussa Dembele is the future of their front line, consider this.
The £30 million January target has scored fewer league goals in 2020/21 than the man he would effectively replace at the London Stadium – Sebastien Haller.
Yes, Haller’s stoppage-time strike against Wolverhampton Wanderers in October didn’t count for much – the Hammers were already 3-0 up and cruising – but that’s still more than Dembele has produced in ten Ligue 1 games for Lyon.
Perhaps this new-found profligacy from a usually lethal finisher is why Lyon, according to The Sun, are willing to cash in when the winter window opens – albeit for a hefty £30 million.
For the tenth game in succession, Dembele drew a blank in an otherwise joyous Sunday at the Groupama Stadium.
Bitter-sweet
Victory over time-honoured rivals St Etienne is always well received but even a 2-1 derby win must have tasted a little bitter-sweet for the former Celtic forward.
Dembele had two goals narrowly ruled out for offside – a point Lyon coach Rudi Garcia was keen to make when defending his usually ruthless marksman.
“I remind you that Moussa Dembele could have been man of the match. On the first goal, it is not offside by much. On the second, I prefer to say nothing,” Garcia, who obviously felt the second should have stood, tells Maxifoot.
“It is not important to know who scores. It is the collective spirit that prevails.”
Try as Garcia might, questions will still be asked of a striker who, just three months ago, was scoring twice against Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals, taking his tally to 24 for the campaign.
West Ham have already got one misfiring Frenchman on their books.
And while Dembele is undoubtedly a player with huge potential and quality in the penalty area, that’s exactly what they said about Haller.
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