This is harsh in my opinion, yet that’s coming from a supporter of a team that finished 18th and is heading for the Championship – in Moyes final season at West Ham we finished 9th! Though for the record I was comfortable with a change of manager, it just needed to be the right one!
Attention then shifts to **Jhon Duran,** once hailed by many as the ideal striker for West Ham. Duran has now been granted a leave of absence by Zenit St Petersburg after just nine games and two goals. Zenit are already his third club since leaving Aston Villa in 2025.
“Duran poses for West Ham fans as he readies himself to sign”… we wish!
He initially joined Al Nassr for £64m, only to depart six months later for a loan spell at Fenerbahce, where he made 21 appearances, scoring five goals and providing three assists.
_This doesn’t automatically justify West Ham choosing Niclas Füllkrug who proved to be an expensive flop. The choice didn’t have to come down to either or, but Duran would have arrived with baggage, and his personality was never likely to suit the West Ham dressing room._
**There surely should have been other targets at the time?**
Regarding Duran, in hindsight, I saw what he did on the pitch for Aston Villa as a squad player and not the recurring issues that have since followed his career such as fitness, discipline, and stability that have prevented him from settling.
Football moves fast. Just three years ago, West Ham were “Champions of Europe.” Now they find themselves back in the second tier for the first time since the 2011–12 season.