With both front line strikers well into their thirties, West Ham have been kicking the can down the road for several transfer windows over the purchase of a competitive goal scorer. Last winter the loan of Evan Ferguson worked out badly for both club and player: However the fan base took to the Brighton loanee and for a few weeks, we were all convinced that the young Irish front man could be the 15 goal a season dream we’d been missing.
Sadly for some inexplicable reason, ( amongst nine months of many inexplicable decisions) Graham Potter didn’t play him and he left at the end of his loan.
Instead, West Ham’s free signing Callum Wilson joined veteran Fullkrug to provide the Hammers’ only striker options.
Wilson has already looked as if he still has the striker’s brain but at 33 his legs won’t get him where he needs to be. Fullkrug is coming back to fitness after another injury – hopefully he still has goals in him.
The future is seen as far rosier, though, with not one, not two, but three talents with enormous potential coming down the track: Callum Marshall is likely to be on the bench tomorrow and just requires a chance to show what he’s got: Massive energy, a brilliant attitude and hopefully a little luck and he will be up and running.
Daniel Cummings is recovering from a shoulder operation after joining from Celtic in the summer: The youngster is highly regarded and already has Champions League soccer on his CV.
Getting back towards fitness after surgery: Daniel Cummings is another striker for the future
Behind him comes teenager Josh Landers, (main pic) 18 year sold and ripping up the u21 season already with five goals in the last four games. As footballfancast.com suggest:
“14 goals in 19 games: West Ham are brewing 18-year-old Fullkrug upgrade”
With their article today emphasising the Scot teenager’s potential:
[Landers has] an impressive average of a goal every 1.66 games, or every 116.33 minutes, and as one analyst points out, the youngster has “hit the ground running….This season, the young prodigy has taken another step forward, playing exclusively with the U21s and already scoring five goals in just four games, suggesting he could be in for a massive season.All of which bodes well for next season: Whether West Ham go into the transfer market for a ‘finished article’ striker in January depends on Nuno’s verdict once he’s seen the performance of Wilson and Fullkrug this Autumn.
Good to see Marshall and Landers behind him pushing for senior places. It doesn’t solve the problem of now, though, and with Espírito Santo looking for fast football on the break from wingers and full backs, I’m not sure Fullkrug or Wilson have the legs.
Landers is a couple of years away: Marshall isn’t really the target man for Diouf to hit from corners. Successive windows without a replacement for Antonio and Ings now leave the Hammers wondering how they will bridge the gap until young talent matures.
At present, the Hammers have options that are ‘too old’ or ‘too young‘: The ‘Goldilocks striker (or ‘just right’ option) is the problem which will need a whole lot of cash to fix. As usual.
Given the paucity of service, not even Haarland would score 15 a season for the 1st team at West Ham.
Look at the U-21’s team, the midfield/wings/supply line create chances.
Callum Marshall needs minutes from the bench sooner rather than later. With Fullkrug and Wilson ahead of him the chances of both picking up injuries is too high to ignore.
I don’t agree they are too young. If they can score goals in the U21 where no VAR is available then if they were to get muscled off the ball in the Prem then surely this would protect them. Other teams are playing 16 and 17 year old ? they must be a lot faster than what we have now.