The sale of Sébastien Haller left West Ham with one injury-plagued striker – Jesse Lingard, though, has offered a solution
The deadline was approaching but West Ham were not in a rush. Although there was a clamour for them to sign a new striker after Sébastien Haller joined Ajax for £20m at the start of January, the right option never appeared. Bids for Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri and Montpellier’s Gaetan Laborde were rejected, interest in Reims’ Boulaye Dia fizzled out and although David Moyes targeted Joshua King last summer, West Ham were content to stand aside when Everton hijacked Fulham’s move for the Norway forward.
It seemed that West Ham were suffering from a familiar flaw: failing to build from a position of strength. Allowing Haller to leave was undeniably a risk given that Michail Antonio, the squad’s only striker, is susceptible to hamstring injuries. It left Moyes without depth up front, threatening to derail West Ham’s unlikely push for Champions League qualification.
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