In a recent report, Calciomercato revealed that West Ham United have set their sights on Panathinaikos striker Fortis Ioannidis this summer. It has been claimed that the Hammers could face competition in the form of Celtic, Sevilla and Eintracht Frankfurt among other clubs in the race to land the Greek forward later this year.
Ioannidis’ Impressive Run Of Form In European Football
Ioannidis has enjoyed a good run of form in Greek football this season as he has managed to put in a series of impressive displays for Panathinaikos in the final third. The 24-year-old has banged in 21 goals and grabbed seven assists in 38 matches for the Greek outfit during this campaign in all competitions.
The Greek attacker has caught the eye with his performances in Europe based on his average of 3.5 shots, 0.7 key passes and 1.3 dribbles per game in the Premier League. However, he needs to improve his ball distribution after completing 74.7% of his attempted passes in the English first division (stats via whoscored).
His current contract at the Greek club will expire in the summer of 2027. Hence, it would be difficult for the Hammers to sign him on the cheap at the end of this campaign.
Should West Ham United Boss David Moyes Go For Ioannidis?
Ioannidis is proficient at engineering a yard of space for himself to get a few strikes in at goal. He has proven himself to be a capable goal-scorer for Panathinaikos this season and can even make a few clever runs with the ball on the offensive end of the field.
However, the Greek sensation has still not proven his worth outside his homeland. Thus, there are some concerns over whether he can cope with the physical side and high intensity of Premier League football if David Moyes can devise a way to bring him to West Ham this summer.
We can expect Ioannidis to bring more firepower to the East London club‘s frontline. He might even help the Hammers compete across all fronts in the coming years. At 24, Ioannidis will only get better, so Moyes would be wise to go for him when the transfer window reopens at the end of this season.
