West Ham have made a big double striker decision ahead of a crucial summer transfer window for new manager Graham Potter.
Hammers News exclusive
West Ham are facing one of their most important summers for years.
Tim Steidten and Julen Lopetegui made a mess of the £155m spend going into this season.
Now majority owner David Sullivan – as de facto technical director – Graham Potter and new head of recruitment Kyle Macauley must clean up that mess.
Not all of last summer’s acquisitions have been flops.
But the rebuild was completely mismanaged, making the squad the oldest in the Premier League.
It has showed on the pitch for most of the season.
West Ham are slow, immobile and lacking in youthful exuberance, guile and dynamism all over the pitch.
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It has been reported that Potter’s top priority in the summer is to overhaul his plodding and technically limited midfield.
The striker department will need serious attention too, though.
West Ham face most important window for years
Going into the season West Ham had one of the oldest strikeforces around.
Michail Antonio, who turns 35 this month, 32-year-old Danny Ings and £26.5m new arrival Niclas Fullkrug, also 32, will soon have a combined age of 99.
Evan Ferguson was West Ham’s only signing in the winter window.
The 20-year-old Brighton striker arrived on loan for the rest of the season having fallen down the pecking order at the Amex.
It gives Hammers fans a glimpse of the kind of profile of player Potter and Macauley will be looking to sign; young, with plenty of potential and hungry to prove themselves.
It seems unlikely West Ham will fork out to sign Ferguson in a permanent deal this summer.
Brighton want at least £60m. And despite allegedly bidding close to that for Jhon Duran in January, West Ham don’t have much cash this summer.
Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images
West Ham make big double striker decision
Funds will need to be raised by offloading players.
West Ham have a plan to bring in £100m in sales.
A number of players will also be let go to free up space on the wage bill.
Hammers News has previously reported that Fullkrug would have been sold in January had he not sustained his latest injury.
The German has not settled in London and does not fit in to Potter’s plans.
Juventus are interested as well as Bundesliga clubs and Fullkrug is likely to be one of many shipped out come the summer window.
Now West Ham have made a big double striker decision – but the board can’t use it as an excuse.
There were emotional scenes on Monday night as Antonio was presented to the West Ham crowd before the defeat to Newcastle.
Hammers News exclusively revealed Antonio is targeting a miraculous return to action by the last week of the season.
In the background, though, the Hammers board and management have faced a major dilemma.
West Ham have long since needed to move on from their over-reliance on Antonio.
Hammers make Antonio contract call says Bailey
But his circumstances, fighting back from a crash which could – according to the man himself – have claimed his life let alone his football career, have added a moral conundrum to the decision.
Antonio’s contract is up at the end of the season.
Some argue Antonio’s situation gives West Ham a perfect opportunity to thank the striker for his service and allow him to move elsewhere.
Others feel Antonio – West Ham’s record Premier League goalscorer – should be given one more season so he can bring up 10 years with the club.
After agonising over what to do for the best, the board have now made a big decision on the Jamaican.
According to well-connected football correspondent Graeme Bailey, West Ham have privately decided they will be offering Antonio a ‘basic’ new one-year contract.
“I am told that as it stands West Ham have very little money,” former Sky Sports reporter Bailey told Hammers News.
“Antonio is going to get a basic contract as he works his way back to fitness.”
West Ham are unlikely to announce anything official on Antonio’s new deal until near the end of the season.
But Bailey believes the decision has been made behind the scenes.
Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Antonio to stay but Ings on his way
In other striker news, Hammers News understands a more straightforward decision has been made on Ings.
The £15m signing from Aston Villa is on an eye-watering £125k per week at West Ham.
That means Ings will have picked up £15m in wages over his two-and-a-half years in east London.
Those wages will be freed up, though, with the Hammers having long since decided Ings will be released as a free agent at the end of the campaign.
Hammers News understands selling Ings in previous windows has been made almost impossible by his huge wages.
And you can hardly blame the player for seeing out his contract knowing he will never earn that kind of money again.
On a free transfer, though, Ings will have plenty of clubs interested from the Championship and newly-promoted sides.
West Ham board can’t use Antonio deal as an excuse
With Antonio set to stay, West Ham must not be allowed to use that as a reason not to go out and sign two top quality new forwards.
While it is widely accepted there is a dearth of top striker talent across Europe, other clubs manage to find forwards.
The farcical striker situation at West Ham has gone on far too long.
Macauley and Potter will have players in mind and they must be backed to bring them in.
There is nothing wrong with having Antonio as part of the squad next season providing his comeback and recovery goes well.
He is an experienced West Ham man who knows what it means to play for the club.
Antonio is also a big character in the changing room and the club has lost too many of those in recent seasons.
But he simply cannot go into next season as first choice striker – like he did this term.
Two younger forwards, who can be the future of the club, need to come in. As far as most supporters are concerned it really is that simple.
And the volume of season ticket renewals could well hinge on it.