West Ham have endured a slow transfer window thus far, with their only major arrival being the capture of Pablo Zabaleta on a free-transfer from Manchester City, but the Hammers are continuing to eye top-class recruits as they seek to improve upon a disappointing debut season at the London Stadium.
Slaven Bilic’s side are desperate to land two top-class strikers to improve their options in attack, whilst there’s a need for a star-man to arrive following the crushing departure of Dimitri Payet in January- and the ideal opportunity has seemingly fallen on a plate for the Hammers.
The BBC reports that West Ham have seen a bid rejected for Austrian star Marko Arnautovic, who’s handed in a transfer request in Staffordshire as he seeks to leave the Potters this summer- and a deal to West Ham is possible.
Whilst Arnautovic has been linked with big clubs on the European stage, including AC Milan, a transfer across the Premier League to West Ham seems to be the most likely scenario. However, he can’t be the only striker to be signed by the Hammers this summer.
Arnautovic’s return of seven goals in 35 games last season is hardly the sort of numbers to set the world alight but he isn’t a traditional centre-forward either, having spent a large part of his career out-wide, and West Ham could see the best from him if the unite him with another top-class striker. Off the top of your heard, a partnership with Javier Hernandez would be frightening.
As is the case for West Ham’s entire transfer strategy this summer, a deal for Arnautovic would only be a success depending on what other deals the Hammers get over the line- as Bilic’s side are in the sort of position where just one signing can save their season.
With the right striking partner to Arnautovic, along with Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini providing support from midfield, the Hammers could create an attacking quartet that has the capability of pushing the East London giants towards a better campaign than the one they endured last season.
Stoke will prove to be difficult to negotiate with though and a deal for Arnautovic may end up being very expensive, which means the Hammers need to consider other options rather than putting all of their eggs in one basket and going all-out for the Austrian.