There was no lack of irony as striker flop Danny Ings rescued a draw for West Ham but elsewhere came screaming reminders of what could have been.
Things have not worked out for Danny Ings since joining West Ham for £15m from Aston Villa.
Ings may be the club’s second highest paid player on £125k per week, but credit to him that he has remained professional and ready for a chance.
He certainly took it – both literally and figuratively – as he climbed off the bench to salvage a 1-1 draw and a point at Fulham.
But the fact the Hammers are relying on the 32-year-old to save the day tells you something about some of the club’s transfer decisions over the last few seasons.
West Ham are widely regarded to have had one of the best windows in the Premier League.
Around £155m has been committed on nine new players.
One of those being £23.5m veteran striker Niclas Fullkrug.
The German became striker signing number 53 since 2010.
Too many of those have been flops or spent most of their time injured.
So there are understandable concerns that Fullkrug is yet to start a Premier League game and has already suffered an injury.
Meanwhile 34-year-old Michail Antonio has been West Ham’s starting striker yet again.
After another poor performance which further fuelled the belief that Antonio is a busted flush as a Premier League forward, he was hooked at half-time.
Hammers fans have been left perplexed that a team with Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Crysencio Summerville and Fullkrug can look so average going forward.
And every time that happens supporters can be heard saying the same thing – ‘why didn’t West Ham just pay the extra for Jhon Duran‘.
That was the case again during and after the Fulham clash.
And that was before Duran smashed in yet another winner for Villa as he blasted home from nearly 30 yards out.
West Ham were not willing to pay any more than £30m for Duran in the summer. Even after the Colombian did the crossed Hammers gesture in a live social media video.
Villa wanted £40m – and possibly young midfielder Lewis Orford too.
Duran stayed at Villa, though, where his redemption arc is something to behold.
There was hope the Hammers might be able to get Duran in a future window. But the fact is West Ham won’t be signing the 20-year-old now. If he doesn’t stay at Villa long-term he is clearly destined for an elite European club so immense is his talent.
But he’s not the first major mistake the Hammers have made in recent seasons when it comes to snubbing forwards.
Fabrizio Romano has rubbed it in for West Ham as £250m striker clangers cut deep.
Duran is just the latest
“Jhon Durán. What a striker,” Romano said on X as Duran lashed home from distance.
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With every goal he scores, more questions are asked of Hammers technical director Tim Steidten and the board.
Perhaps more so the board given Duran was clearly the prime target for Julen Lopetegui and Steidten.
But it’s just the latest in a long line of unfathomable striker decisions which are haunting West Ham right now.
In the last three or four years alone West Ham have turned down the chance to sign four strikers who are now worth at least £250m combined.
If Duran’s value was £40m before you can probably add at least another £20m to that figure now.
Then there’s Tammy Abraham.
West Ham had the chance to sign Abraham on two occasions, including before the deadline.
Abraham already has two goals and two assists in his first two games with AC Milan.
Viktor Gyokeres was on a silver platter for West Ham last summer. David Moyes watched him live multiple times and a £17.5m deal was there to be done with Coventry – especially after they lost the play-off final.
Instead Moyes decided the deadly Swede was not up to it.
And by now most West Ham fans know the rest. If you don’t it was brought home again this weekend
Gyokeres scored yet again in Sporting’s 3-0 win this weekend following three goals in two games for Sweden during the international break.
He already has 11 goals and three assists in just seven appearances for club and country this season. That follows the 34 goals and 12 assists he got for the Portuguese club last season.
Gyokeres is now being linked with a £100m move next summer.
If Duran, Abraham and Gyokeres weren’t enough, though, how about Julian Alvarez?
Back in 2022 West Ham were being heavily linked with a move for the ex Man City star – as reported at the time by El Intrasigente.
Hammers News declared at the time that the then River Plate striker Alvarez would be the ideal signing for West Ham.
Moyes did not agree, though, and Alvarez signed for Man City instead for just £14m.
Moyes made a jaw-dropping admission that he snubbed the chance to sign Alvarez for a bargain £14m ‘because he had Michail Antonio’.
After helping Man City and Argentina win every possible major trophy, he joined Atletico Madrid in the summer for a record £81.5m.
Alvarez has picked up where he left off at City, scoring twice in his first four games.
Duran, Abraham, Gyokeres and Alvarez. What might have been for West Ham does not bear thinking about.
It’s easy to be angry with Antonio. But it’s not his fault the Hammers are still relying on him as he closes in on his 35th birthday. He doesn’t keep renewing his own contract.
The Hammers have to hope Fullkrug works out. Or that he at least buys them time to finally go out and get their answer to a Duran next summer.
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