Exclusive: West Ham eyeing up January striker swoop as current star’s future thrown into doubt
Michail Antonio’s future at West Ham could be thrown into doubt as the winter window approaches with the club already keeping an eye on potential replacements, TEAMtalk understands.
West Ham’s front line will continue to spark debate as we head towards January – and the club are weighing up various options.
David Moyes remains happy with Michail Antonio yet the forward has only scored twice from nine starts this season and the fanbase are feeling frustrated about their lack of goal power with him in the side.
Sources say there is growing potential for Mohammed Kudus to be used from the start but in the meantime West Ham’s recruitment staff will continue to build out targets for the new year and beyond.
They continue to eye Serhou Guirassy but the in-form Stuttgart striker has picked up a hamstring injury that will keep him out for a few weeks, so that scouting brief will be on hold for now.
Other names mentioned to TEAMtalk include Adam Hlozek from Bayer Leverkusen and Vangelis Pavlidis of AZ Alkmaar.
But we can reveal the club also have 19-year-old Karim Konate of RB Salzburg on their radar. At this stage it is unclear whether that intent is around a January move – with our sources of the belief it could be more focused on the summer market.
We revealed earlier this month how the club are not rushing into new commitment with boss Moyes over a new contract – but he is in favour of Antonio staying if he does remain in the job.
There has been speculation around Antonio’s future, and he was linked with a move to Saudi Arabia in the last transfer window. Plans around how they move forward are going to become crucial as the Hammers head towards the second half of this season.
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West Ham open talks with Antonio
Last month it was reported that the Hammers opened contract talks with the striker ahead of his current deal expiring in June 2024 but the club do still have the option to extend his existing contract by a further 12 months if they wish.
Whilst the striker had been looking like he could move on from the London Stadium in the summer, he has gone part way to turn things around this season but there is still uncertainty amongst sections of the fanbase about his feasibility as their go-to striker.
Antonio is the all-time record Premier League goalscorer for the Hammers having netted 63 goals in 233 appearances in the top flight. Danny Ings remains the main backup for Antonio after Gianluca Scamacca returned to Italy to join Atalanta in the summer window.
The Hammers did attempt to bring in reinforcements in the summer but failed with moves for Hugo Ekitike and Yuri Alberto and now have more targets in mind as they look towards upcoming transfer windows.
One striker the Hammers have been eyeing up, Serhou Guirassy, joined Stuttgart permanently from Stade Rennais this summer and scored 15 goals in nine appearances for the German before picking up a hamstring injury that will likely keep him sidelined until the end of the month.
19-year-old Karim Konate is another target for the Hammers having scored seven goals in 15 appearances as he embarks on his first full season with RB Salzburg’s first team. Bayer Leverkusen’s Adam Hlozek has three goals in ten first team appearances this season whilst has 14 goals in 15 outings with AZ Alkmaar.
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