WHZ View: West Ham must sign Ukraine striker Roman Yaremchuk
West Ham desperately need to sign a striker this summer, and early signs from the European Championships suggest Roman Yaremchuk could be the perfect fit.
After club-record signing Sebastien Haller’s exit to Ajax in January, the Irons were left short on forward options with just Michail Antonio as a recognised senior striking option.
The likes of Jarrod Bowen and Jesse Lingard covered admirably for the 31-year-old when he was out injured, but ultimately a striker shortage may have cost us a shot at the Champions League spots.
As such, it has to be a priority position for us as we head into this summer’s transfer market, especially as we gear up for a Europa League campaign.
Attention has turned as to who that new forward may be, with numerous names linked to the Irons, but there is one who has stuck out to us after a couple of impressive displays at Euro 2020.
Ukraine have made a lively start to their campaign, narrowly losing 3-2 to the Netherlands before beating North Macedonia 2-1 on Thursday [17/06/21].
Two of their goals have been struck by Irons winger Andriy Yarmolenko while the other half have come from Gent striker Yaremchuk, who the Express claim is a target for West Ham.
The 25-year-old has been a prolific scorer in Belgium’s top-flight, hitting 30 goals in the past two seasons, but now he is taking his form to the international stage.
Yaremchuk is an imposing figure up front, standing at 1.91m (6ft, 3in), and naturally he is a big threat in the air. But he has shown at Euro 2020 that he is more than just a target man, or ‘big lump’ up front.
Despite his considerable size, the Ukranian actually enjoys running in behind defences, as evidenced against North Maceodnia.
As the above image shows, Yaremchuk has darted in between the central defender and full-back to latch onto a threaded pass from Yarmolenko.
He then goes on to score his second of Euro 2020, but it wasn’t a single occurrence – he actually had a nearly identical effort minutes before his goal, and anyone that has watched his two matches so far will have been able to witness just how versatile an attacker he is.
Yaremchuk reminds us of a former Irons favourite – Frederic Kanoute.
The Mali international scored 33 goals in 92 appearances for West Ham between 2000-03, including two 11-goal hauls in the Premier League.
Kanoute was of a similar stature to Yaremchuk, standing just a bit taller at 1.93m, and he also shared similar traits to him.
The France-born star was adept at holding the ball up and using his considerable frame, but he also had pace to unsettle defenders and play on the shoulder.
Antonio is in a similar mould, and we think Yaremchuk would be the perfect player to supplement him in attack.
In other West Ham news, an English striker wanted by the Irons is up for grabs for just £8million now.
Be sure to follow West Ham Zone on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on the Hammers and more exclusive interviews with Frank McAvennie.