Daniel Feliciano

Mon 16 January 2023 16:55, UK

West Ham have made bids for a number of strikers in Ligue 1, La Liga and Serie A, casting doubts on the future of Michail Antonio, says ExWHUemployee.

The Hammers are looking to bolster their striker options once again, with Antonio unhappy at becoming second-choice to Gianluca Scamacca and attracting interest from Wolves and Everton.

But after Youssef En-Nesyri turned down a move to the London Stadium, the club are continuing to make waves across Europe and have submitted bids for a number of players on the continent, according to The West Ham Way.

“Ex has also revealed that a top source has said that there are a ‘number of bids in for strikers’ at this point, which of course casts further doubts on the long term future of Michail Antonio,” they wrote (16 January).

“The source confirmed that there are bids in for other players,” added our ITK and Podcast host. “Some of these are also said to be players in foreign leagues in France, Spain and Italy.”

Major

The news that we’re chasing a striker absolutely isn’t news at this point, with West Ham bidding for Terem Moffi most recently being reported.

But having so many bids in for players across the continent is very interesting, considering this was what happened in the summer and those signings largely haven’t gone well.

The scattergun approach was great for bringing in volume during a big and busy summer, but there have been big question marks around each of the eight signings that were made.

The previous signings have done well and that was when David Moyes narrowed down his options and was stubborn enough to only go for them, which saw better results with the likes of Kurt Zouma and Tomas Soucek.

With just two weeks remaining in the January transfer window, there is obviously a need for speed to get deals done and especially if Antonio is going to leave the club. Big decisions are needed and they’ll need to be made quickly, but it’s encouraging that the club are moving to address their weaknesses.