As Niclas Fullkrug limps back to London Stadium waiting for a scan and treatment, West Ham United may be rueing their missed opportunity of the summer to make the window a 10/10. With the three strikers’ combined ages now well into the nineties, Tim Steidten’s choice of bringing Fullkrug into the club has never looked more questionable now that he has picked up an injury just three games into the Premier League season and faces a spell on the sidelines.
Similarly Mikhail Antonio’s long trip back from Honduras on Thursday will mean he is unavailable for the Weekends game against Fulham.
There did look a time early in the summer transfer window when it really did look as if Jhon Duran might have been winging his way to the London Stadium, as Aston Villa needed to sell before the end of June to sort their own FFP and PSR situation, ‘allegedly’ according to sources.
West Ham baulked at £35 million, Villa sold Douglas Luiz instead and the urgency faded. £40 million was then set and The Hammers turned to Nic Fullkrug as their cheaper alternative to spite Aston Villa, possibly….
Many Hammers fans have expressed the hope that we could still go back for Jhon Duran at £40 million in December or next Summer: Id pretty much rule that out following a ‘shock admission’ report in local Birmingham World.
Jhon Duran – Hammers missed their chance
Aston Villa’s Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo, commonly known as Monchi, President of Football Operations at Aston Villa, is quoted as stating :
“If there is a club that really thinks Duran can become one of the top strikers in the world – then that one club is Aston Villa and that one manager is Unai Emery. There are no fewer than 40 clubs who want Duran – because everyone wants Duran”
Over 40 clubs after the Colombian, then, including of course, Chelsea and West Ham. Villa have embarked on a Duran – love-in to make the young striker feel he belongs at Villa Park-It seems though from the amount of game time that Unai Emery is giving Duran this season, that Villa will have no intention of letting their rising star leave in the Winter. With Champions League football too, Villa’s workload will be shared between Watkins and Duran, and if he keeps scoring like he did against us – I’d suggest he has a pretty big future.
Damn.
So, tough luck Hammers, we had our chance. And we might rue the missed opportunity. But I’d say it’s gone for good now.