Hammers Shift Continents In Search For Elusive 'Top' Striker

The list of strikers that West Ham United have been linked with seems to grow daily, and the list of rejections by players targeted is equally as long! Bacca, Batshuayi, Benteke, Lacazette and any number of other high profile players have all refused to sign up to Slaven Billic's vision, which leaves the club in an award position. Perhaps on reflection the much vaunted hunt for a 'marquee' signing has back fired somewhat, the de-stabalising effect of such a public hunt has already had it's impact with the strop Diafra Sakho has had by handing in his transfer request, with Enner Valencia potentially on his way out to Swansea or Lazio and Andy Carroll having picked up his usual injury that will prevent him starting the season the cupboard is bare up front.
Having been knocked back by European based players and clubs on so many occasions recently, the Hammers hierarchy have shifted their emphasis towards South America. Now everyone knows that David Sullivan, co-owner and majority shareholder of West Ham, loves a good South American! Manuel Lanzini being a classic example of how bargains can be had. Admittedly Lanzini was plying his trade in the middle east and was therefore off the radar of many clubs.
According to Brazilian media outlet Esporte the latest striker West Ham are being linked with is 22 year old Argentinian Jonathan Calleri, he will leave Uruguayan club Deportivo Maldonado and join for a one year loan subject to completing his medical. It is not all sweetness and light however, It is believed Calleri wanted to join up with manager and compatriot Jorge Sampaoli at Sevilla but West Ham offered more money. Calleri played alongside Carlos Tevez at Boca Juniors in 2015 and looks likely to follow in his footsteps. Their report says the Deportivo Maldonado forward was wanted by the likes of Inter Milan and Sevilla, but after speaking to Tevez, who also made the move from a Brazilian side to West Ham, Calleri was persuaded to join Slaven Billic.
Earlier in the summer, co-owner David Gold said he's willing to spend £25m to £30m on a quality forward, AC Milan star Carlos Bacca looked to be one of the most likely candidates, but he seems to be holding out for a club that can offer him Champions League football. He told Spanish newspaper AS: "Playing in the Champions League is my dream and I work every day for that.I wanted to play in the Champions League with Milan because I came here to do that, but unfortunately we did not get that step, It is one of the issues that we are talking about with Milan, we're not in Europe and I want to play the Champions League."
Although anything can and often does happen in the mad football transfer world, it appears that the Bacca deal is dead in the water, and who knows?, Hammers might have dodged a bullet!
None of these five Colombian strikers to head to the Premier League in the past excelled despite obvious potential, the most memorable and recent was of course Radamel Falcao, who after seven successive double figure seasons scoring 34 or more in four of the final five , managed just 15 top flight starts and five goals across campaigns on loan at first Manchester United and then Chelsea.
Colombian strikers don’t traditionally settle swiftly in the Premier League the pattern commenced over 20 years ago when Faustino Asprilla joined a Newcastle side top of the table and appeared to unsettle them , they lost four of his first six starts and never recovered, while he signed off that initial half term with three goals in 14 outings.
Juan Pablo Angel struggled to justify Aston Villa’s decision to break their transfer record for him in 2001, firing once in the league in his opening six months and 13 times in the next two complete seasons. He did get better to stick around for six years and depart on 44 strikes in 175 games, but he never delivered on his fee.
The same was true of Hugo Rodallega, bought by Wigan for £4.5 million in 2009. His four-and-a-half years in the north west yielded 24 goals in 112 league matches. Hamilton Ricard at Middlesbrough was the best of the bunch, albeit benefitting from a slimmer fee (£2 million) and still netting only 33 times in 115 league contests across the top two tiers. Indeed, in addition to being spread across a 20 year period, the problems of Colombian attacking talents adapting to the Premier League even seems to affect those who operate on the flanks, Chelsea spent £23.3 million on Juan Cuadrado in February 2015 and started him four times, while Victor Ibarbo managed just four cameos for Watford in 2015/16.
The worrying aspect for Hammers fans is that the need to panic purchase could see the club paying over the odds for players who are only slightly better or on a par to those who were available before all the transfer shenanigans began, the moral of the story being " careless spiels sink deals!" - Ed