Stalling is nothing new at West Ham. David Moyes was renown for it, missing some pretty illustrious deals along the way: The Viktor Gyokeres ‘fail’ will be one of Moyes epic errors from his time at the club, but it is part of football: Every manager will look back wistfully upon that player he ducked out of signing, or the one that got away – a little like Cole Palmer being lined up to come to West Ham – the club folklore of transfer fails grows with every season.
Coventry City’s Gyokeres could have come to West Ham for £18 million, before Moyes decided against him, and the player signed for Sporting Lisbon in the summer of ’23. Fast forward two years and Gyokeres is “one of most coveted strikers in Europe this summer” with a €100m release clause. (football.london).
So when another striker linked with the Hammers in January – but another deal on which West Ham ‘stalled’ – fires in four goals and two assists in the few weeks the winter window has been closed, West Ham need to sit up and take notice. Brian Brobbey was available from Ajax on a loan to buy option, but a cash-strapped Sullivan stalled on the £30 million purchase requirement and Brobbey returned to Ajax and has been doing the business since.
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Hopefully Potter and Macaulay still have the radar switched on and have Brobbey on screen. The next time he shows up his price will have skyrocketed: West Ham need to avoid missing out again and lamenting another ‘missed opportunity’.
Brobbey will be creating waves in the Premier League soon enough and it would be head-bangingly frustrating to see him crashing through defences in his own Antonio-like style for another Premier League rival next season. £30 million is affordable West Ham money and this is one young handful of a striker who is amenable to coming to West Ham and ready to hit the ground running.