West Ham United have spent a fortune on strikers over the past few years, and have had little to show for it. Since 2019, the Hammers have splashed a combined £117.5 million on Sebastien Haller, Gianluca Scamacca, Danny Ings, and Niclas Fullkrug. Between them, they’ve scored just 27 goals.
Haller scored 14 in 52 games before leaving for Ajax; Scamacca managed just eight in his only season at the London Stadium; while Ings, who remains at the club, has scored only five goals in 56 appearances.
Fullkrug, who West Ham spent £27.5 million in the summer, has yet to get off the mark for the Hammers, failing to score in his first four games before succumbing to injury. Fortunately for the Irons, amid their striker struggles, they’ve still been able to rely on record scorer Michail Antonio.
His return of just seven goals last season and only one in nine games this term, however, suggests the 34-year-old has run out of steam.
Hammers want Kolo Muani in January
With Fullkrug still out injured and both Ings and Antonio misfiring, West Ham are now turning their attention to out of favour Paris Saint-Germain striker Randal Kolo Muani. The 25-year-old, who joined the Ligue 1 giants in 2023 from Eintracht Frankfurt in a deal worth over £75 million, has been a bit-part player for PSG this term and has not featured in any of the club’s last three league games.
TBR Football claim PSG are now ready to let Kolo Muani leave the club on loan in January, and that the Hammers are among those keen to take him on. Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United are also keeping tabs on the France international.
A separate report from L’Equipe’s Florian Plettenberg earlier this week claimed that a number of Premier League clubs, though it did not name which, have already contacted PSG about a loan move for Kolo Muani.
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ByEmilio GalantiniNov 6, 2024 Kolo Muani's goal record is impressive
Kolo Muani started his career in his home country with FC Nantes in 2018, for whom he made just shy of a century of appearances before moving to Frankfurt in 2022. In his one season in Germany, his 23 goals in all competitions forced PSG to come calling.
Since moving to the French capital, however, Kolo Muani has struggled. Last term, he scored just nine goals in 40 games, while this term he’s bagged just two in 10. He’s atoned for that with impressive form for France however – 25 appearances for Les Bleus have brought with them eight goals.
After scoring a brace in France’s 2-1 UEFA Nations League win against Belgium in October, France manager Didier Deschamps was full of praise for Kolo Muani.
“He is confident and has a very specific profile where in his runs with the ball there is presence,” said Deschamps of the PSG forward, while his former youth coach has praise his explosiveness and resilience, two traits which should serve him well in spearheading a Premier League attack.