West Ham United have managed to come out of their early season rut but the pressure is still massive on Slaven Bilic’s shoulders. The West Ham boss didn’t have any sort of luck in the first few months as injuries coupled with the bad form of his players meant they had the worst possible start in their new stadium. They have managed to raise their game and are 13th in the League now, but if they want to make a late challenge for the top eight spots, adding fresh faces is imperative.
West Ham have been haunted by injuries to their strikers and Michail Antonio has had to fill in at times. The Englishman has been really effective in that position, but it takes away his impact from the wider areas. With Andre Ayew departing for the AFCON, West Ham will be short on options in the attacking third and in a bid to add more firepower, they’ve been linked with RB Leipzig forward Davie Selke.
Selke moved to Leipzig last season after his impressive exploits with Werder Bremen. A lot of clubs were vying for the attacker back then but he decided to move to East Germany as Leipzig had a very ambitious project in place.
Selke had managed nine goals in 20 Bundesliga appearances and helped them avoid the drop before joining Leipzig. For a teenager, that was indeed a brilliant goal return and you can see why Ralf Rangnick, Leipzig’s manager at the time, was keen on securing his services and make him the most expensive signing in the second division.
Under Rangnick, who is often called as the godfather of geggenpressing before Jürgen Klopp made it so famous, Selke closed down defenders as the games were played with a lot of intensity. In 30 second division games for the club, he managed 10 goals and three assists.
This season, Selke has had competition from the likes of Timo Werner and Yussuf Poulsen and hasn’t seen consistent game time. He has started just one game and with the competition pretty stiff, a move to West Ham could be a good choice as the Hammers themselves have grand plans for the upcoming seasons.
Slaven Bilic will face competition from Everton in trying to sign the striker, however. Everton have no shortage of funds after the arrival of Farhad Moshiri and matching them will be a tough task. But considering Selke could get more game time at West Ham, a loan move to East London does make more sense.
