Two of the Championship’s three-best finishers may go head-to-head at the London Stadium when West Ham United host Southampton on Saturday at 3pm.

Well, provided one is fit enough to feature, that is. And don’t panic, we are not referring to any emerging doubts about the availability of captain Jarrod Bowen.

But as Nuno Espirito Santo hopes for another match-winning display from his top scorer, Southampton are sweating on the fitness of theirs.

Southampton striker Cyle Larin could have joined West Ham United in 2021

Alongside Middlesbrough poacher Will Lankshear, Cyle Larin is one of only two Championship forwards to have outscored Bowen thus far.

The Canadian is a major cause for concern on the South Coast right now, though. And not because the most recent of his seven goals came four games ago. Larin was forced off inside the first-half of Southampton’s 0-0 draw with Bolton Wanderers last time out. The well-travelled number nine is therefore a doubt to face a side who reportedly tried to sign him half a decade before the Saints reached an agreement with Real Mallorca.

Back in 2021, Turkish publication Sabah claimed that West Ham had submitted a £9 million bid for the then-Besiktas frontman. Larin had plundered 23 goals that previous campaign, including 19 in 38 Super Lig matches.

“There is an offer for Larin,” was the response of Besiktas president Ahmet Nur Cebi at the time. “But we do not intend to sell. Players are not sold just because there is an offer. The numbers we are receiving are not satisfactory.”

‘Not satisfactory’ would be a fitting description of Larin’s performances post-2021. Until recently, of course.

Larin has been a man reborn on the South Coast under Tonda Eckert

In truth, this is the first season since 2020/21 that Larin has looked capable of delivering such numbers again.

In the years after that reported West Ham bid, the experienced globe-trotter flattered to deceive at Zulte Waregem, Club Brugge, Feyenoord and Mallorca. An eight-game La Liga stint with Real Valladolid was a rare bright spot in what was turning into a pretty underwhelming club career.

Five years after West Ham reportedly came tried and failed to bring the Southampton talisman to the London Stadium, a Larin winner away at a side who offered him the biggest opportunity of his career might’ve felt like a redemption, of sorts.

An untimely injury could yet scupper all that.