TEAMtalk insider Dean Jones has talked down the potential of West Ham raiding Barcelona for a forward, but a Manchester United man is in view.
The Hammers are struggling for form this season. After nine Premier League games, they have just one win and one draw, and are 19th in the table.
Their struggles to find the net have been evident, with only Nottingham Forest having scored fewer than their seven goals this term.
Recent reports have suggested that, in an attempt to turn the tide, West Ham are keen on 17-year-old Barcelona forward Dro Fernandez, who plays largely as a winger or an attacking midfielder.
But TEAMtalk insider Jones does not feel that move is one that the Hammers should be pursuing.
“Going for a player like that does not really make sense and does not really fit with what I have heard about potential recruitment.
“They already have at least three players who have similar traits to him and I am not convinced signing a 17-year-old for a relegation battle is ideal. They want a more traditional forward from what I understand, someone with presence and ideally some good experience.
“I think it’ll be a number nine type but they are definitely looking at Joshua Zirkzee as one of the candidates and I am not convinced of that being a great idea either as he is not a target man or someone who typically scores a lot of goals.”
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West Ham striking options
Currently, West Ham‘s striking options are Callum Wilson, 20-year-old Callum Marshall, Niklas Fullkrug – who is injured – and wide man Jarrod Bowen.
There is certainly a need to recruit in the striker role.
However, Zirkzee is not the most inspirational option that they could pursue.
If a genuine No.9 is what they want, then a man who has been described as a 9.5 – somewhere between a striker and an attacking midfielder – is not in the right mould.
That he only scored three goals in 32 games of his debut Premier League season for Manchester United further evidences that he’s not the man to help the Hammers out of their relegation scrap.
Where will West Ham finish this season?