The Irons stats question need for a striker

The age old question that has plagued West Ham this transfer window is whether or not the club need a new striker.

It seems simple on the surface. Mikey Antonio is the only option up front and there’s no one else, beyond those in the academy.

But if you scratch a little deeper and actually look at some statistics, the question becomes that much more difficult to answer.

The Hammers, this season, have scored 39 goals in 21 games. Beyond Manchester City and Liverpool – two teams you’d expect to be at the top of the scoring charts – only Chelsea have scored more – six.

The Irons have outscored Manchester United (why would Declan want to go!?), Arsenal, and Spurs by a significant margin. The fact that they have nine more goals than United, who boast the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford, and Edinson Cavani is nothing short of remarkable.

The goals are coming from everywhere too.

In all competitions, per BBC Sport, Mikey Antonio has nine, Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma both have eight, Manuel Lanzini has six and Pablo Fornals has four. Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek, and Mark Noble have all scored more than once, while there are nine players with one goal to their name, ranging from Ben Johnson to Nikola Vlasic.

If Mikey is out, there is the fluidity in the squad that an attacking midfielder can fill in and we won’t be sacrificing goals – Bowen or Benrahma, when he returns from the AFCON, will be more than capable.

Add in the fact that there simply aren’t that many attainable strikers out there and it really does make you think that maybe we don’t need some average operator in this window and can perhaps wait until summer.