West Ham are being linked with attackers on a daily basis now as the window nears and the rumours grow surrounding the sale of Mohammed Kudus to finance a striker purchase.
If the mythical £100 million bid arrives for Kudus then several of the loan targets will fall away: It seems that at the moment West Ham’s recruitment people are spinning many different plates, unsure of the budget they will be working with, or even whether there will be any funds for an outright purchase.
That explains some of the loan rumours surrounding players like Brighton’s Evan Ferguson. West Ham could not afford to match Brighton’s £100 million price tag anyway but are still planning for contingencies with a loan bid under preparation for the young monster striker who’d be a brilliant recruit if only for half a season.
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Talk today of the championship striker Emanuel Latte Lath from Middlesboro is also ramping up.
One of the favourites still seemed to be Jonathan Burkhardt from Mainz: That is until his club announced yesterday that he’ll be out for ‘several weeks’ after sustaining a muscle injury at the weekend (See West Hams Striker Curse). Even so, his injury hasn’t stopped Eintracht Frankfurt today joining the trail of Burkhardt in January, according to insidefutbol.com.
It is a crowded market with so many clubs looking for a guaranteed 15 goal a season marksman.
Whether that convinces West Ham to persevere with their Brazilian recruiting for Yuri Alberto or Igor Jesús will again depend on the budget: Reports today (sportwitness.co.uk) even suggest that Alberto will not be sold in January. I take those with a pinch of salt: Everyone is for sale if the price is right.
Add to the mix that Niclas Fullkrug is still hoping to secure a short term move away from his ‘dreadful’ transfer then the situation is almost chaotic: Until bids come in for Kudus giving West Ham some cash to splash, it seems unlikely that the Hammers will leap into the notoriously costly January purchase market.
It is quite possible despite the outcry this weekend after announcing they’d sell Kudus for £100 million that West Ham end up with no bids and a moody Kudus staying until the summer, meaning the club have to go for the loan signing to deputise for Antonio.
Now, if that is Evan Ferguson, that’d be no calamity.
Knowing our luck with strikers it’ll end up being 52 year – old Duncan Ferguson.