View: Sonny Perkins is the answer to West Ham United’s striker concerns
West Ham United failed to sign a striker in January that would have provided much-needed backup to Michail Antonio at the London Stadium.
And while it would have been beneficial for an experienced player to come in and rival the Jamaican for his spot in the side, it isn’t as much of a worry as some people may think it to be.
Atalanta talisman Duvan Zapata was subject to a late bid from the Hammers but they had left it too late to finalise a deal for the Colombian [The Athletic].
But now is not the time to be sulking that the desired additions didn’t walk through the door.
Now is when we need to look within the club for a youngster to step up to the plate when called upon and there might be the perfect replacement ready and waiting.
17-year-old Sonny Perkins has already featured in the first team this season and started the final Europa League group game against Dinamo Zagreb when the Irons had already qualified for the knockouts as group winners.
His record in the youth teams is something that manager David Moyes cannot be ignoring and he is doing all the right things towards making his breakthrough.
Perkins has scored four in four for the Under-18s this season and quickly progressed to the Under-23s where he has bagged six in 12.
It’s an impressive record to have on your resume, especially as this is his first year playing at an Under-23 level and it is no surprise that he has been playing Under-18s football for England too.
He has two goals in five appearances for the national setup and the 17-year-old is ready to be more involved in the first team in the coming weeks.
It may only be substitute appearances to begin with but that would be a huge benefit to him and to Antonio who wouldn’t need to play the full 90 minutes week in, week out.
In other West Ham news, the club should be thanking their lucky stars this player wasn’t for sale last month.