It’s a double whammy for West Ham as the agent of striker Viktor Gyokeres speaks out on his client’s big decision amid manager rumours. Hindsight is a wonderful thing in life but especially so in football.
Could have, would have, should have forms much of the debate we see not only at West Ham but across the game. Shaka should have saved it, Jimmy would have saved it. And so on.
But most debates around West Ham often come back to one line – we should have signed a striker.
In 2020/21 many West Ham fans feel we would have made the Champions League spots had we brought in a new forward. In the end we finished just short by a solitary win.
With Gianluca Scamacca sold after one season and ageing Michail Antonio entering his West Ham swansong, there was no doubt the Hammers needed to sign a striker last summer.
Key Bayer Leverkusen man is highly unlikely to face West Ham https://t.co/VYl3Ry0rlx
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Gyokeres was West Ham’s ideal Antonio heir
Sweden striker Gyokeres had been widely expected to join West Ham as the ideal heir to Antonio.
Especially after Coventry failed to get promoted in the play-off final.
Gyokeres even sent a come and get me plea amid the reported interest from West Ham.David Moyes is said to have spent a lot of time doing his due diligence on the all-action forward. And The Sun claimed the Scot had personally attended several Coventry games last season to run the rule over Gyokeres ahead of a summer move.
Various journalists quoted people inside the club that Gyokeres was one of West Ham’s top targets.
But Sporting boss Ruben Amorim held personal meetings with the striker. He went the extra mile to show him his plans and how he would build the team around Gyokeres. And Sporting ended up signing him for just £17m. That’s £500k less than West Ham paid for Maxwel Cornet the summer before.
Gyokeres has been an absolute revelation in Portugal to leave West Ham full of regret.
He has a staggering 33 goals and 12 assists in 39 games for Sporting this season as they close in on the title.
Sporting CP v Atalanta: Round of 16 First Leg – UEFA Europa League 2023/24
Double whammy for Hammers as agent speaks out
That achievement has seen reported West Ham managerial target Amorim heavily linked with Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp’s successor.
The Hammers could well be looking for a new striker and a new manager in a couple of months.
But there’s a double whammy for West Ham as the agent of striker Gyokeres speaks out on his client’s big decision amid manager rumours.
Because Gyokeres’ agent has Hasan Cetinkaya has confirmed Gyokeres turned down seven other clubs last summer to join Sporting specifically to play for Amorim.
And he says the striker may now have to leave if Amorim departs.
“It will be difficult for Viktor to stay at Sporting if Ruben Amorim decides to leave the club,” Cetinkaya told Record.
“We had eight proposals for Gyokeres last summer and he decided to join Sporting for Amorim.”
Hard for West Ham’s owners to hear
Obviously other clubs were in the mix too. But how frustrating is that for West Ham’s owners to hear.
A forward they could have got for peanuts, signed somewhere else to play for a manager that was on their shortlist only to end up with neither and see rival clubs get their hands on them instead.
West Ham’s ‘dream’ of appointing Amorim is in tatters with speculation that an agreement is in place for him to join Liverpool.
And Gyokeres will now be well beyond West Ham’s price range this summer with elite clubs chasing him.
The only positive is the fact the Hammers are being linked with players and managers of that pedigree.
We just have to hope we show more conviction to get things done in the future.
With Tim Steidten calling the shots fans can be confident that will be the case.
