It's that time of year again, that time of year when we look at West Ham's strikers and go '...them? Really?'
With the departures of Andy Carroll, Marko Arnautovic and Toni Martinez (christ!) this summer, the cupboard is bare. Like, 'Javier Hernandez and Jordan Hugill only' bare. They've managed to misnegotiate a deal for Maxi Gomez so badly that he's going to Valencia instead, and Bournemouth are giving Callum Wilson a new contract to keep him at the Vitality.
It's a series of screwups that would have any other fanbase in turmoil, but this is business as normal in east London. Since David Gold and David Sullivan took over the club in January 2010, the club have signed 38 strikers. Andy Carroll has scored more than any of them, with...34 goals.
It's so, so hard to overstate just how dreadful the club have been at signing strikers as we approach a decade of, as Sporting CP president
Striker | Goalscoring record |
Benni McCarthy | 0 in 13 |
Mido | 0 in 9 |
Ilan | 4 in 11 |
Pablo Barrera | 0 in 23 |
Frederic Piquionne | 11 in 62 |
Victor Obinna | 8 in 32 |
Demba Ba | 7 in 13 |
Robbie Keane | 2 in 10 |
John Carew | 2 in 21 |
Sam Baldock | 5 in 22 |
Brian Montenegro | 0 in 1 |
Terry Dixon | 0 in 0 |
Nicky Maynard | 4 in 17 |
Ricardo Vaz Te | 19 in 61 |
Modibo Maiga | 7 in 45 |
Andy Carroll | 34 in 142 |
Sean Maguire | 0 in 0 |
Marouane Chamakh | 0 in 3 |
Wellington Paulista | 0 in 0 |
Mladen Petric | 0 in 4 |
Carlton Cole | 9 in 56 |
Jaanai Gordon | 0 in 0 |
Marco Borriello | 0 in 2 |
Mauro Zarate | 7 in 29 |
Enner Valencia | 10 in 72 |
Diafra Sakho | 24 in 71 |
Nene | 0 in 8 |
Nikica Jelavic | 2 in 14 |
Emmanuel Emenike | 2 in 16 |
Toni Martinez | 0 in 3 |
Ashley Fletcher | 1 in 20 |
Jonathan Calleri | 1 in 19 |
Simone Zaza | 0 in 11 |
Marko Arnautovic | 22 in 65 |
Javier Hernandez | 16 in 61 |
Jordan Hugill | 0 in 2 |
Oladapo Afolayan | 0 in 0 |
Lucas Perez | 6 in 19 |
Source : 90min