West Ham United have been trying to find a lethal number nine for the past decade, often coming up short, despite spending big fees on some big names in recent times.
This includes big deals for the likes of Gianluca Scamacca who cost around £35.5m, and Sebastian Haller who cost around £45m.
The 25-year-old Italian made just 27 appearances for the Hammers, scoring eight goals, and totaling 1,342 minutes played for the club. Meanwhile, Haller made 54 appearances, netting 14 times and, providing one assist in 3,681 minutes.
Michail Antonio
317
83
Danny Ings
56
5
Gianluca Scamacca
27
8
Sebastian Haller
54
14
Lucas Perez
19
6
Marko Arnautovic
65
22
Simone Zaza
11
0
Enner Valencia
68
10
Diafra Sakho
71
24
Andy Carroll
142
34
Michail Antonio and Danny Ings are still at the club, but both are approaching the back end of their careers, with Antonio aged 34, and Ings aged 32. Therefore, West Ham could be looking to add a younger striker profile to their ranks, and may already be looking at options ahead of the January transfer window.
West Ham eyeing new striker in 2025
According to reports from talkSPORT, West Ham are still interested in Panathinaikos striker, Fotis Ioannidis, who was also on their shortlist this summer. This comes after the club made the decision to go for Niclas Füllkrug, who has struggled to get up to full fitness since joining.
The 24-year-old striker has been described as “dangerous” by analyst Ben Mattinson, referring to his instincts in the box, the variety of finishing in his toolkit, and the accuracy he can provide on his shots in such little time.
Ioannidis made 44 appearances for Panathinaikos last season, scoring 23 goals, providing nine assists, and totalling 3,043 minutes played, as his side finished fourth in the Greek Super League.
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How Ioannidis compares to Fullkrug
The Hammers signed Fullkrug this summer ahead of Ioannidis and other options, joining from Dortmund for around £27m.
This came off the back of a 16-goal season, making 46 appearances for the German side, also providing ten assists, and making it to the Champions League final, where they lost 2-0 to Real Madrid.
However, since joining the East London club, Fullkrug has made four appearances, only totalling 137 minutes played, and is yet to provide a goal contribution.
Goals
0.70
0.40
Assists
0.24
0.25
xG
1.04
0.48
Progressive Carries
2.08
0.76
Progressive Passes
1.67
2.28
Shots Total
3.60
2.34
Shots on Target
1.40
0.93
Goals/Shot
0.17
0.13
Key Passes
0.83
1.47
Shot-Creating Actions
3.13
2.52
Aerials Won
1.04
3.49
As you can see from the metrics, Ioannidis offers a more complete profile, with the ability to carry the ball forward for his team, take a high volume of shots, create for himself and others, and convert chances at a high level, scoring 0.70 goals per 90, generating 1.04 xG per 90, and converting 0.17 shots/goal per 90.
Expected Goals (xG) is a metric designed to measure the probability of a shot resulting in a goal.
Fullkrug clearly has the qualities of a link-up striker, playing plenty of progressive and key passes, and winning aerial duels, but the fact Ioannidis can do this to a good level too, whilst adding more mobility, clinical finishing, and overall fitness/availability, makes him a great choice for the Hammers.
The Greece international could come in, change the dynamics of West Ham’s front line instantly, and offer them a more youthful option compared to the three strikers already at the club, with Antonio, Ings and Fullkrug.
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