West Ham have to act as Premier League rivals are most ‘proactive’ in race for Stuttgart ace Serhou Guirassy
Amid all the relative success West Ham had spending the money received from the sale of Declan Rice this summer, there was one glaring omission that still looks problematic now.
Arsenal forked out £105million to take Rice from their London rivals, money that was reinvested in Mohammed Kudus, James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez, and Konstantinos Mavropanos.
West Ham’s coffers were further boosted by the reported £27m brought in to send Gianluca Scamacca back to Serie A with Atalanta after a solitary season at the London Stadium.
In some ways, it was Scamacca’s sale that has left a hole that still needs filling with West Ham looking very light in terms of out-and-out strikers.
Michail Antonio – whose own future remains shrouded in doubt – is reaching the twilight of his career and the signing of Danny Ings in January is one that just hasn’t worked out.
It was an issue that was evident on Thursday (26 October) as the Hammers went down 2-1 to Olympiacos in the Europa League, a match in which Ings started but did very little to influence the game.
In stats provided by SofaScore, he managed only one shot off target and had a further two that were off target.
One such solution has been mooted, with West Ham linked with a move for Stuttgart ace Serhou Guirassy, who has 15 goals in nine games this season and has a reported release clause of €17.5million (£15.2m – 90min.com, 25 October).
The issue is that with such brilliant form and a modest release clause by today’s standards, Guirassy is reportedly a player in high demand.
According to TEAMtalk (27 October), Fulham have been the most proactive in pursuing a deal, with Tottenham also having him on their list as they attempt to bolster their forward line.
One positive for West Ham is that the online news outlet said Guirassy is not necessarily in a rush and could wait until the summer to move.
But West Ham need a striker that much is clear and Guirassy fits their bill. It’s a simple equation really, they need to act and they need to act fast.
In other West Ham news, Paul Merson has predicted the outcome of the Hammers’ Premier League clash with Everton on Sunday.