West Ham fans are all well aware of the fact that whilst Sebastien Haller is a top striker, he needs a lot more help than what he’s currently getting. Part of that is down to the fact that the Hammers have got very little in the way of in-form creative midfielders, but it could be down to the system.
A lot of the fans will want to see Haller, who was dropped to the bench for the recent win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, starting upfront with a partner in a new system. In that aforementioned win over Chelsea, Michail Antonio started as a striker and he had Felipe Anderson behind him in the ten role in a lesser-seen 4-4-1-1 shape.
So far this season, the common set-ups that Manuel Pellegrini has opted to use are the 4-2-3-1 and the 4-1-4-1. At no point has he gone for a two upfront, and that could well be because aside from Haller the only other natural striker is Albian Ajeti, the raw Swiss forward signed this summer.
With that in kind, bringing in a new striker looks to be something Pellegrini wants, and these reports from David Ornstein’s blog in The Athletic claim that the Hammers are looking into bringing an ex-Arsenal striker to the club, and he’s a man who recently went invincible.
That man is Chuba Akpom. The 24-year-old is currently plying his trade in Greece with PAOK Salonika but has recently been left out of the side, starting just three league games this season so far, and is reportedly uninterested in signing a new contract.
Do you want to sign Chuba Akpom?
Yes
No
Ornstein has claimed that the Irons wanted Akpom over the summer, and after missing out on the rapid front-man back then, Pellegrini is keen to go back in for his man in the mid-season window, although he could face competition for Akpom from Ligue 1 Reims and German side Cologne.
