McAvennie reiterates West Ham need for new striker, bemoans Ollie Watkins failure
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
Frank McAvennie has reiterated the need for West Ham to sign a new centre-forward in the summer transfer window.
Sebastien Haller’s move to Ajax in January left Michail Antonio as the only striker in David Moyes’ senior squad and the attacker, who was more of a winger when he joined the Hammers, has scored just two goals in his last nine Premier League appearances.
Antonio also missed a huge chance to score in the 3-3 draw with on Sunday and McAvennie claims that while he’s a fan of the 30-year-old, he really thinks Moyes needs to strengthen that area of his squad when he can.
“I like Antonio but Moyes has got to get somebody else in,” McAvennie told West Ham Zone.
“Antonio’s not going to play constantly, I think they need an out-and-out striker in to take a bit of pressure off him.
“I can’t remember the last time I saw West Ham not have any strikers apart from Antonio.”
McAvennie has also bemoaned West Ham’s failure to sign Ollie Watkins from Brentford last year.
Watkins, 25, joined Villa for £28million last summer and has since scored 10 goals in 28 Premier League appearances and earned a call-up to the England squad.
He was linked with a move to the London Stadium [Claret & Hugh] before signing for Villa and McAvennie claims that could have been a missed opportunity for the Hammers.
He added: “We didn’t get Watkins – that’s someone who I thought would have been wonderful.
“Imagine Watkins playing with Jesse Lingard, Declan Rice, Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek. That would have been a joy to watch.”
Despite West Ham’s lack of a prolific goalscorer, they sit fifth in the Premier League table with nine matches left to play.
Soucek, who scored a hat-trick for the Czech Republic on Wednesday, is the Hammers’ top goalscorer this season with nine strikes in 29 Premier League matches.
In other West Ham news, our panel of Super Fans are delighted with the latest on Moyes’ contract situation.