West Ham might already have a ready-made solution to their striker issues in Danny Ings
West Ham and the number nine position has been an unhappy relationship for many years now as they once again look set to cut their losses.
Sebastien Haller, Mauro Zarate, Javier Hernandez, Simone Zaza, Enner Valencia and Marco Arnautovic. The list goes on and on and on.
It truly has been a difficult era for the Hammers when it comes to strikers with very few, if any at all, being a success over the past decade or so, with Michail Antonio perhaps being the only exception to that rule and he was not even initially signed as a striker.
Last summer it felt as if the East London side might have finally broken the curse when they signed Gianluca Scamacca, a player who was coveted by some of Europe’s elite, but a year later it seems as if the Italy international has proven once again this is not a curse that can be taken lightly.
As reported by Fabrizio Romano via Twitter (1 August), the 24-year-old has accepted an offer to head back to his native country and link up with Inter Milan with a deal between the two clubs expected to be reached in the coming days.
Once again David Sullivan and the board will have to cut their losses after they had purchased Scamacca for a fee of £35.5million (Sky Sports News, 28 July 2022) and will now see him leave for a reported fee of around £21.4million, representing a loss of £14million.
Although, while some fans will be left scratching their head and thinking where did it all go wrong up top, other more optimistic supporters will have already turned their attention towards a striker still at the club who could yet have his best days in Claret and Blue ahead of him.
In a recent video posted to the club’s official Youtube channel (1 August), Danny Ings can be seen beating Tomas Soucek during a match in training and scoring into an empty net for which he received a “Well done Danny” shout from the coaching staff.
“Good defending,” was another shout, with some members of staff clearly impressed by what they were seeing from the 31-year-old.
Ings has not made the best start to life at the London Stadium since arriving from Aston Villa in January, scoring just twice following his arrival, with both goals coming in one game against Nottingham Forest.
However, with a full pre-season under his belt and the confidence of perhaps becoming the club’s main man next season, he could finally end the miserable streak of West Ham’s failed frontmen.
He is a proven Premier League goalscorer, having found the back of the net on 70 occasions in 205 appearances in the competition, and fans will be hoping he hits his previous heights again during the upcoming campaign.
There is no reason why he can’t do so.
In other West Ham news, a journalist has rubbished a report linking the club to a midfielder.