With Graham Potter apparently ‘stalling’ on a decision regarding Jonathan David, it appears West Ham’s Manager is in the midst of something akin to a rethink as to the type of frontman he seeks at the club. Whilst it is not yet the eleventh hour, it does seem quite late on to be re-imagining a type of striker he requires – presumably after seeing Niclas Fullkrug’s impact as the ‘old fashioned’ big frontman.
West Ham had been pursuing Jonathan David since the end of last year, with Potter on more than one occasion quoted as saying he was the “striker most wanted” at London Stadium.
In true ‘dithering Dave’ tradition, Potter seems to be changing his mind over a £50 million total spend that David would represent. Better now than after acquiring the technically gifted player I guess.
If Potter wants an old fashioned burly Liam Delap style front man then he could revisit Ajax’s Brian Brobbey – the Dutch Antonio-style striker who was in London in January trying to tie up a loan move to West Ham that didn’t materialise as Ajax would only agree with a mandatory £30 million purchase condition at the end of the loan.
Brobbey made his return to the starting XI after a month out in the Ajax 5-0 win at the weekend, although with limited impact according to tribalfootball.com:
“Brian Brobbey again failed to make a great impression, prompting Farioli to give Wout Weghorst another 30 minutes as he and Steven Berghuis replaced Brobbey and Bertrand Traore.”
It is clear he is back fit with an hour under his belt and out to impress again. At £30 million he offers West Ham the style and physical characteristics Potter seems to leaning towards.
The question is whether he can step up to Premier League quality: At some stage Potter is going to have to get off the fence and commit to a style of play and Brobbey is as good a proponent of the ‘old fashioned front man’ as any available at a West Ham price.
Martin, I have many Ajax supporting friends/family and nobody will lose any sleep if Brobbey leaves for West Ham. Ajax would be delighted to offload him for 30 million. I don’t see him as a serious option.