Speaking on the latest episode of the West Ham Way podcast, ExWHUemployee has revealed one position which David Moyes will ‘definitely’ strengthen in the summer.
Since former striker Sebastien Haller was sold to Dutch giants Ajax in a £20m deal in January, Michail Antonio has been the only recognised forward in David Moyes’ squad.
The 30-year-old has impressed for the capital club throughout the current campaign, bagging seven goals and providing five assists for his teammates in just 20 Premier League appearances, but he’s missed several weeks of the season through injury.
West Ham have suffered when the former Nottingham Forest man has been sidelined, winning less than 50% of their matches, and according to ExWHUemployee, the Hammers hierarchy are targeting some attacking reinforcements.
He said: “We will definitely sign a forward in the summer. All of these names I’ve mentioned many times before, but [Ivan] Toney at Brentford, Youssef En-Nesyri at Sevilla, [Adam] Armstrong at Blackburn, [Tammy] Abraham at Chelsea – they’re all potential signings.
“I mean, obviously it’s going to depend on how many games they get for their current clubs, whether those current clubs qualify for Europe. So, it’s all sort of dependent on a few factors right now, but they are players that we have shown an interest in in the past and are still interested in.”
TIF Thoughts on West Ham’s striker search…
Antonio is a solid striker and is enjoying a great season with the Hammers, but the Englishman has struggled with injuries in recent years, and another No 9 is certainly needed over the summer even if just from a depth perspective.
The London Stadium outfit could end up qualifying for European football next term and the extra fixtures would presumably put more strain on Moyes’ resources, especially if Manchester United loanee Jesse Lingard finds himself back in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans at Old Trafford.
So it would not be a surprise to see the West Ham insider’s information come to fruition regardless of where the Hammers end up this season.