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West Ham’s Striker Curse Strikes Again-Star Target injured before signing!

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With a tight budget and a poor track record when it comes to signing strikers, West Ham seem to have been hit by the same old curse—this time before a deal could even be completed.

Corinthians striker Yuri Alberto, who has been linked with West Ham since 2022, has suffered a significant injury. The 24-year-old is currently sidelined with a lumbar spine fracture, and there’s no confirmed timeline for his return.

Alberto made his senior debut for Santos in 2017 before spending two years at Internacional, where he scored 27 goals in 70 appearances. That form earned him a move to Zenit St Petersburg, but despite scoring four goals in 11 appearances, he returned to Brazil just five months later—initially on loan to Corinthians before signing a permanent five-year deal in January 2023.

The Brazilian, who has one senior international cap, is reportedly the highest-paid player at Corinthians, earning around £40,000 a week.

Interest from West Ham was confirmed earlier in the year by the player’s agent, Andre Cury, who told Ge Globo that the club had made a concrete offer for the striker.

The Times went further in April, claiming the Hammers had even agreed personal terms with Alberto. More recently, Sebastien Vidal of Weekend Sports echoed those claims, adding that the deal is now in jeopardy due to the player’s injury.

Wolves have also kept tabs on the forward, with manager Vitor Pereira having previously coached him at Corinthians.

Claret & Hugh approached a senior West Ham source a while ago who responded to the rumours by saying, “Not true!” Yet at the time, we spoke to several credible agents who suggested there was something in the story.

Regardless, having suffered injury issues with numerous strikers over the years, this latest setback will almost certainly see West Ham turn their attention elsewhere.

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I have been a season ticket holder since the late eighties, so experienced the highs and lows of being a West Ham supporter. I previously wrote for OLAS and have contributed to a number of football publications in the past.

8 comments

  • Dg says:

    “Sully fucks things up again going for a cheap, injury-prone, unknown, punt striker that the manager doesn’t want”

    SULLIVAN OUT

  • Macephtopheles says:

    “Claret & Hugh approached a senior West Ham source a while ago who responded to the rumours by saying, “Not true!” Yet at the time, we spoke to several credible agents who suggested there was something in the story.”

    So what’s the admission there? That your “senior source” is the head of catering?

    At the very least, it shows a lack of trust in said source. Granted, it’s fair to seek corroboration on things but the way it’s written clearly give more priority to other people’s say which goes against the “senior source” there.

    If you were trying to present the source as something legitimate, you’d say “While we’ve had several agents say there’s something to it, our senior source at the club gave an emphatic “Not true!” response to it.”

    Either way, it shows the source is either someone with little to no import in the running of the club or you don’t trust their word on things. Possibly both.

  • Beyond caring now says:

    As if we were ever going to really sign him 🤣🤣
    Cuckoo land geez….
    All these names on your site everyday that we are linked with or are about to sign,we never sign any of them.
    We have become a joke of a club,bloody embarrassing being a West Ham fan these days
    Sullivan out…..
    Sullivan out
    Sullivan out….

  • ResultsMatter says:

    Let’s get serious about this issue. Other clubs with smaller budgets have no trouble signing players. We just have incompetent staff at West Ham plus an unmotivated owner. As a result, good players don’t want to come here, even if we spent the money at the right time.

    • Benny the Aussie says:

      Yep, spot on.
      The owners are this problem, he’s living in the past and can’t conform to the present.
      Everything we do is incompetent, it never seems planned, just reactive.

  • Philly Boy Baker says:

    I blame Sullivan for not signing the player whether it’s true we were signing him or not. All Sullivans fault.

    • Hammeroo says:

      You blame Sullivan for everything, as you keep saying! Maybe you blame him for all that’s going wrong in America as well. Add to that the situation in the Middle East. It’s all Sullivan’s fault. We get it. He’s a silly Sully.

      • Benny the Aussie says:

        It is his fault, he runs this club by the seat of his pants. Or Porno pigmy pants, no professionalism at all.

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