West Ham Transfers: A dream striker target might be turning impossible | OneFootball

West Ham went out and signed Champions League Finalist Niclas Fullkrug from Borussia Dortmund in the summer 2024 transfer market, hoping that the big German No. 9 would be able to slot in as an alternative to Michail Antonio up top and solve a huge striker problem at London Stadium.

Instead, Fullkrug looks like a 27 million pound lost cause with no real future ahead of him and a host of worrying injury issues that are only going to become more nagging with age. Fullkrug's spell in London already looks over, and West Ham have been scrambling for long-term options since the winter. They signed Evan Ferguson, an excellent young striker from Brighton, but he's probably not going to last longer than this six-month loan deal.

When it comes to realistic and affordable options around European football, Lille striker Jonathan David stands out as the best option. And perhaps West Ham regret pursuing Jhon Duran, whom Aston Villa had no intention of moving and is now already in Saudi Arabia for much more money, so hard last summer instead of going after David.

Jonathan David will be free

While David had some pretty big clubs going after him, including London rivals Tottenham, he ended up moving nowhere last summer. What makes his lack of a move even more surprising is the fact that David is on an expiring contract and can leave Lille as a free agent this summer, meaning the 25-year-old could very well be the best deal on the free agent market when assessing how valuable goal-scoring 9's are at his age.

West Ham have to be in the mix and have to be interested in such a player, but David's stock may be rising too fast. He scored in another important game for Lille on Wednesday night, nabbing the opener in Les Dogues' tough 2-1 defeat to Dortmund. The Brooklyn-born David has scored a whopping 14 goals in Ligue 1 and 7 goals in the Champions League this season, along with 5 assists in both competitions combined.

Those numbers make David one of the top strikers in European football, and there are going to be so many teams interested with how few sure-fire strikers there are. Aside from Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Newcastle, and Manchester City, nobody else truly has a set long-term solution at striker - least of all West Ham.

Remember, just because someone is a free agent, it doesn't mean they are easy to sign. Far from it. West Ham will have to compete with clubs that have even richer coffers, more clout, and a more competitive status in their league in a bidding war for a young man who will finally, hopefully (for him), hold all the cards.