According to a recent report by The Sun, Premier League side West Ham United recently had a transfer approach for the services of Serie A club Lazio’s forward Felipe Caicedo rejected. The former Manchester City attacker has been tearing things apart in the Italian League in recent months, and the Hammers are claimed to have expressed an interest in signing the veteran this summer.
The 31-year-old is being targeted by the Hammers despite their summer acquisition of Sebastien Haller, who cost the London club upwards of £40m to sign. The report suggests that David Moyes is keen to strengthen his side in the summer, with the centre-forward’s slot being considered as one of the priorities. Despite the threat of relegation still looming large, the former Manchester United head coach is supposedly keen on outlining plans for the end of the season.
What Has Gone Wrong At West Ham United This Season?
For all the additions that this rather stacked West Ham United side have made over the last couple of seasons, saying that they’ve underperformed would be a massive understatement. Players like Felipe Anderson and Haller have the quality required to play for any team in the world, but the fact that they chose West Ham highlights the development plan they had in place as well. Despite this though, the lack of goals in forward areas has continued to hurt them terribly.
French striker Haller was seen as the talismanic forward who could lead this Hammers team back into the top half of the table. But, Manuel Pellegrini’s dismal run in the opening part of the season has left this West Ham team a little worse off than they were at the end of last year. The Irons’ most recent performance against Southampton was arguably their best of the season so far, and Moyes will surely be hoping to keep the momentum going.
Why West Ham Needn’t Move For Felipe Caicedo In The Summer?
The Hammers already boast the likes of Michail Antonio and Haller in the central striker’s role. At the same time, Jarrod Bowen and Albian Ajeti will hope to give the duo competition for their position. By signing former Manchester City striker Caicedo, Moyes wouldn’t be adding anything new or fresh to his squad given that the Ecuadorean is likely only to have attributes that the current West Ham strikers already possess.
Moreover, the former Malaga and Espanyol striker is already in the wrong side of his thirties and doesn’t have the right profile or level of experience to kick on in the Premier League. In Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen, the Hammers have two extremely high potential strikers in their ranks, meaning that acquiring another would be unnecessary at this point.
