West Ham have this week confirmed their priority positions for the summer transfer window are striker and midfield.
Anyone who has watched West Ham over the last 18 months would point to the forward line and midfield as the club’s biggest problem.
The good news is West Ham’s top brass revealed they plan to fix that this summer.
It has been confirmed that £125k-per-week Danny Ings is being released at the end of his contract next month.
Ings has been one of the latest in a long line of West Ham striker flops having been signed for £15m from Aston Villa two-and-a-half years ago.
Fullkrug could soon be last striker standing at West Ham
Evan Ferguson is the very latest Hammers forward signing who has failed to fire.
The on loan Brighton striker is yet to register a shot on target let alone a goal in the claret and blue and will not have his move made permanent this summer.
Graham Potter has confirmed a decision will be made soon on Michail Antonio.
MORE WEST HAM STORIES
The long-serving Hammers star is recovering from breaking his leg in four places in that horrendous car crash back in December but is out of contract next month too as things stand.
Antonio says the decision on a new deal rests with West Ham.
West Ham head coach Graham Potter and striker Niclas Fullkrug.
Credit: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Should the 35-year-old also be released as part of Potter’s drive to lower the age of the Premier League’s oldest squad, then it will leave the Hammers with just one forward this summer.
And Niclas Fullkrug – by his own admission – has endured a dismal first season in east London, missing six of the nine months of the campaign and scoring just three goals in 16 appearances after joining in a £26m deal from Borussia Dortmund.
Fullkrug is no spring chicken either, turning 33 next season.
Kyle Macaulay arrived at West Ham as the club’s new head of recruitment armed with a dossier of targets.
The strikers among them are said to include Emanuel Emegha of Strasbourg, Nice’s Evann Guessand and Mainz striker Jonathan Burkardt.
Potter’s West Ham striker plan gets major boost
Now Potter’s West Ham striker plan has been given a major boost after big news from Germany.
Burkardt has been heavily linked with a summer move to West Ham, with claims he is a player Macaulay has identified as being what the Hammers need under Potter.
Burkardt has seriously impressed for Mainz this season, scoring 18 goals and laying on three assists so far.
The 24-year-old forward, who earned his first three caps for Germany as a result of Fullkrug’s injury issues this season, is a fox-in-the-box type of striker.
Finishing and long-range shooting are listed as Burkardt’s main strengths and he has won four man of the match awards this season.
Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images
Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images
Big news from Germany for Hammers and a £25m twist
The problem is Bild previously claimed Mainz want around £40m for the forward which may be steep for the latest Hammers striker gamble given sales are needed to raise funds in east London due to PSR.
However, now it seems Potter’s plan to add another German to his strike-force has been given real encouragement on two fronts.
Because, according to a new report from Bild, West Ham are not only ‘well in the picture’ to sign prolific striker Burkardt in the upcoming transfer window.
The German outlet states that Burkardt’s stay now seems unlikely amid West Ham’s interest.
But the £40m fee quoted previously is a complete red herring as it’s been revealed Burkardt has a release clause of just £15m.
Now that is much more within West Ham’s price range for their summer rebuild. And it massively lessens the risk after some big spending in recent years.
If Fullkrug stays then he could help lure the star eight years his junior to the London Stadium.
And that would be a fantastic way for West Ham to start their much-needed overhaul, which began in earnest with the release of Ings and three other ageing senior players last week.