The 50 strikers at West Ham in the David Gold and David Sullivan era
Nikola Vlasic’s West Ham arrival makes him the 50th forward purchased under owners David Gold and David Sullivan at a total cost of over an incredible £250MILLION… but can the Croatian manage better than 20 of them who failed to score a SINGLE goal?
- Nikola Vlasic arrived on deadline day for £35m from Russian side CSKA Moscow
- Croatian is West Ham’s 50th striker in the era of David Gold and David Sullivan
- Mido, Benni McCarthy and Simone Zaza are among big-name disappointments
- Sportsmail charts all 50 forwards and judges whether they made the grade
West Ham may be a new animal under David Moyes following their best Premier League season in 22 years which saw them finish sixth.
But the Hammers still have a few points to prove this term, perhaps chief among them being they are not just a graveyard for any striker joining the club.
Nikola Vlasic is the 50th to walk into the Hammers under the co-ownership of David Gold and David Sullivan following his £35million deadline day move from CSKA Moscow, and many of them have failed to cut it whether it was at Upton Park or the London Stadium.
West Ham have announced the signing of Nikola Vlasic on a five-year deal from CSKA Moscow
West Ham owners David Sullivan and David Gold have now made their 50th forward purchase
They have acquired players unheard of, from teams in South America. They have acquired players on loan to keep costs down and they have also acquired players for club-record fees in a bid to find a star the whole club can lean on to deliver success.
For the flops and the youngsters that never got a chance there is a success story and none more so than Demba Ba.
He had a scoring touch and yet he was gone within six months, West Ham unable to keep him. So, from Brian Montenegro to Andy Carroll to Jordan Hugill, it’s been one hell of a ride for the club’s supporters.
Sportsmail recounts all 50 players, including Vlasic who has previously played in the Premier League at Everton, and reflects on how they got on and judges whether they really did make any meaningful contribution on the pitch.
Mido
Joined the club: January 2010 (loan deal)
Left the club: June 2010
Goals: 0
No stranger to the Premier League, Mido had plied his trade in the top flight with Tottenham, Middlesbrough and Wigan before joining West Ham on loan from Boro in the winter window of 2010.
But he contributed nothing to the attack and after failing to score in nine league matches, he returned to Boro.
The start of a number of busted flushes that West Ham would pick up to lead the line.
Impact rating: 1/10
Benni McCarthy
Joined the club: January 2010 (£2.5m)
Left the club: April 2011
Goals: 0
The South African forward became the first signing of the Gold-Sullivan era after competing a £2.5m move from Blackburn Rovers.
At the time of signing, he was regarded as one of the top-flight’s deadliest strikers but he endured a dreadful spell at West Ham, failing to score in his 14 appearances and was eventually released by the club in April 2011.
The writing was on the wall when he was left out of manager Avram Grant’s 25-man squad for the second half of this season. Talk about an anti-climax transfer.
Impact rating: 1/10
Benni McCarthy was dreadful in his 14-month spell and his contract was eventually terminated
Frederic Piquionne
Joined the club: January 2010 (£1m)
Left the club: February 2013
Goals: 11
Having impressed on loan at Portsmouth the previous season, Piquionne returned to the Premier League on a permanent basis when West Ham brought him in from Lyon.
A rare feat for any recent West Ham striker signing, Piquionne did record a double-figure tally in front of goal, finishing with 11 in 62 games. He had 11 assists to match in a return better than many of his peers brought in in the same window.
There was a brief stint on loan at Doncaster Rovers – who eventually got relegated to League One – before he signed for Portland Timbers in MLS.
Impact rating: 5/10
Ilan
Joined the club: January 2010 (Free transfer)
Left the club: June 2010
Goals: 4
The fourth and final striker that West Ham gambled on in their bid to avoid the drop, which they did (just about).
Ilan was signed alongside Mido, McCarthy and Piquionne and arrived on a free transfer from French side Saint-Etienne.
His four goals in the league were crucial, three of which came in a four-game run against Everton, Sunderland, Liverpool and Wigan. It was a brief fling and off he went in the summer of 2010 with job done in keeping the Hammers up.
Impact rating: 5/10
Pablo Barrera
Joined the club: July 2010 (£4m)
Left the club: July 2012
Goals: 0
A four-year contract with the option of an extra year was a show of faith… blind faith it turned out, as Barrera never managed to get off the ground.
His backers will say he was not an out-and-out striker and was better as a winger but zero goals says it all.
No goals, no assists and West Ham were relegated. The perfect cocktail for a transfer ‘flop’ if ever we’ve seen one.
Impact rating: 1/10
Pablo Barrera (right) signed a four-year deal when he arrived but was soon frozen out
Victor Obinna
Joined the club: August 2010 (loan deal)
Left the club: June 2011
Goals: 8
This is a curious one. Here was a player with bags of ability and yet for some reason he went from club to club without being able to settle.
Much was expected of the Nigerian when he signed on loan from European giants Inter Milan, having previously impressed in Italy with Chievo, but in the end West Ham elected not to make it a permanent stay.
He managed eight goals in all competitions but his highlight was undoubtedly three assists in a 4-0 rout of Manchester United in the League Cup. In that moment, that night, he was a world-beater.
Some West Ham fans are still wondering what happened to that player.
Impact rating: 6/10
Demba Ba
Joined the club: January 2011 (£680,000)
Left the club: June 2011
Goals: 7
It said all that needed to be said when Demba Ba finished as West Ham’s top scorer in the league in 2010-11 despite playing just 12 times in the top flight.
When Ba arrived from high-flying German side Hoffenheim, he was a relatively unheard of Senegalese striker but by the time he was done in east London he was hot property that Newcastle eventually managed to acquire.
His seven goals weren’t enough for Avram Grant’s West Ham side to avoid relegation to the Championship but Ba’s reputation was sky high and spells at Newcastle and Chelsea followed before a switch to China. Now in Switzerland’s top flight after the 36-year-old’s summer move to Lugano from Istanbul Basaksehir on a free transfer.
Impact rating: 8/10
Robbie Keane
Joined the club: January 2011 (loan deal)
Left the club: May 2011
Goals: 2
With West Ham rooted to the bottom of the Premier League at the time, Keane was signed on loan from London rivals Tottenham in a bid to keep them in the top-flight. Spoiler alert – he couldn’t do it.
He scored on his debut but it was a false dawn as he netted just once more before returning to Tottenham with a relegation on his CV.
He clearly got fed-up with English football as he then headed off to the USA with LA Galaxy. Now retired and it is not his time at West Ham that will have him reminiscing about lacing up again, that’s for sure.
Impact rating: 6/10
Robbie Keane has a rich CV but leaving West Ham with just two goals was not a high point
Demba Ba (left) is arguably the best striker signing made in the last 11 years but the less said about Victor Obinna’s spell the better as he never managed to find his feet in England
Sam Baldock
Joined the club: August 2011 (£2.75m)
Left the club: August 2012
Goals: 5
West Ham signed Baldock from MK Dons for a fee that could have cost the club £2.75m – but he struggled to make any meaningful impact at Upton Park.
Four goals in his first seven games showed plenty of promise but that was where the celebrations stopped.
In the end Baldock managed one more goal and soon found himself out of the side as he he failed to adapt to that style of play. Now at Derby County in the second tier after a summer move from Reading.
Impact rating: 5/10
Brian Montenegro
Joined the club: August 2011 (loan deal)
Left the club: June 2012
Goals: 0
Another case of who on earth is this ex-West Ham striker?!
The Hammers picked up the Paraguay Under 20 international in August 2011, bringing him to England on a season-long loan from Uruguay-based Deportivo Maldonado.
He made just one appearance though, which came in an FA Cup defeat by Sheffield Wednesday, and never got a look in after that.
Impact rating: 0/10
John Carew
Joined the club: August 2011 (Free transfer)
Left the club: June 2012
Goals: 2
A free agent and scrambling for a club Carew had little choice but to drop down to the Championship to sign for West Ham.
It wasn’t one for the memory bank – at least not the positive memory bank – as Carew grabbed two goals in 21 appearances in all competitions.
West Ham did win promotion to the top-flight at the first time of asking but it wasn’t like Carew did much for the cause. He wasn’t offered a new deal and confirmed his retirement in October 2013.
Impact rating: 2/10
John Carew dropped down to the second tier but was showing his age as he struggled badly
Nicky Maynard
Joined the club: January 2012 (£1.7m)
Left the club: August 2012
Goals: 4
Maynard arrived highly-rated as the Hammers bolstered their attack during their time in the second tier. But, as is often the way at West Ham, Maynard was unable to live up to expectations.
He played 17 games in all competitions, scoring just four goals, and he was sold to Cardiff six months after arriving.
Scored a key goal in their promotion play-off semi-final but was unused in the final. That goal in the semi-final was huge in the context of the 2011-12 season and so he gets a six.
Impact rating: 6/10
Joe Dixon
Joined the club: January 2012 (Free transfer)
Left the club: July 2014
Goals: 0
A two-month deal was signed and he went straight into their development squad and so the bar was pretty low for what was expected of Joe Dixon.
Not much is known about him but he was a former Manchester United trainee, spent time playing in Romania and Turkey and ended up in the non-league pyramid more recently with Hampton & Richmond Borough.
Impact rating: 0/10
Ricardo Vaz Te
Joined the club: January 2012 (Undisclosed transfer)
Left the club: January 2015
Goals: 19
Few on this list can match the influence of Ricardo Vaz Te when it is recalled that it was his goal that sealed promotion at Wembley.
The clock struck 87 minutes and it was Vaz Te who popped up to burst Blackpool’s bubble.
Will always hold a special place in supporters’ hearts for his three years at the club. Left in the winter window of 2014-15 and joined Akhisar Belediyespor in Turkey.
Impact rating: 8/10
Ricardo Vaz Te scored some huge goals for West Ham, none bigger than the goal that secured promotion back to the Premier League in the final stages at Wembley against Blackpool
Andy Carroll
Joined the club: August 2012 (deal made permanent for £15m in June 2013)
Left the club: August 2019
Goals: 34
Whether or not Carroll was a success probably depends on which fan you ask.
He returned to Newcastle with 34 goals to show for seven years service. It’s OK, at best.
Carroll initially signed on loan from Liverpool before that deal was made permanent a year later.
There were moments of sheer magic, such as the sensational overhead kick against Crystal Palace in January 2017.
Impact rating: 7/10
Wellington Paulista
Joined the club: January 2013 (Loan deal)
Left the club: June 2013
Goals: 0
Won plenty of headlines in his native Brazil and such the hype train was quick to leave the station when he joined West Ham.
But this train soon ran out of steam as Paulista, who was signed in the same window as Joe Cole and Marouane Chamakh, failed to make a first-team appearance.
Among the most forgettable signings ever.
Impact rating: 0/10
Marouane Chamakh
Joined the club: January 2013 (Loan deal)
Left the club: August 2013
Goals: 0
It was actually seen as something of a coup when the Hammers persuaded Arsenal to loan them Chamakh for the remainder of the season in 2012-13.
But the reality saw Arsenal have the last laugh. It turned out to be a forgettable experience for both the player and club, with the Moroccan playing only three games for West Ham without scoring.
And still he managed to stick around London, eventually turning up at Crystal Palace where his three-year spell was hindered with injuries. Played twice for Cardiff before calling for retirement.
Impact rating: 4/10
Marouane Chamakh (right) quickly showed West Ham he wasn’t the coup they thought he was
Sean Maguire
Joined the club: January 2013 (Undisclosed transfer)
Left the club: January 2015
Goals: 0
Never got a game, in fairness, and so it is difficult to pile criticism on him. One thing he did manage to do was not to let his barren spell at West Ham define him.
The Luton-born striker arrived at West Ham after impressing in Ireland with Waterford. It seemed a bit Roy of the Rovers stuff even then – and so it proved.
Waterford chairman John O’Sullivan didn’t help when he said ‘Seany’ reminded him of one Lionel Messi.
Maguire was never given the chance to impress and eventually left for Dundalk in Ireland. Currently making a name for himself with Preston North End.
Impact rating: 0/10
Modibo Maiga
Joined the club: June 2013 (£4.5m)
Left the club: August 2015
Goals: 7
At one time, it was Maiga or bust for West Ham’s attack. What a harrowing prospect, looking back.
The Hammers began the 2013-14 season with Maiga – who had signed that summer from French side Sochaux – as their only striker after Carroll was ruled out with an injury. He ended up staying for three seasons – albeit with two spells out on loan – before being axed.
Spells at QPR at Metz brought limited success and with West Ham still to be convinced, just four league goals to his name, he moved to Al-Nassr.
Impact rating: 6/10
Mladen Petric
Joined the club: September 2013 (Free transfer)
Left the club: January 2014
Goals: 0
Four games, no goals and sent packing in five months to Greece.
The Croatian had been without a club since leaving Fulham in the summer of 2013 after his one-year contract expired, having scored five goals in 23 appearances for the Cottagers.
Petric arrived at then-Upton Park with lofty expectations but looked lost in the three league matches he played.
Impact rating: 1/10
Mladen Petric was given just four games and with no goals, West Ham decided to cut losses
Carlton Cole
Joined the club: October 2013 (free transfer)
Left the club: October 2015
Goals (in second spell): 8
A firm fan favourite after his fruitful first spell at the club, Cole returned in 2013 just months after the club released him.
Having missed out on a number of their targets, the club put their tale between their legs and asked Cole to come back, which he did.
The striker, who won seven England caps in his career, went on to score eight times in his second spell before he departed… and this time, for good.
Impact rating: 9/10
Jaanai Gordon
Joined the club: January 2014 (Undisclosed transfer)
Left the club: September 2017
Goals: 0
Now plying his trade with nearby Stratford Town, it is safe to say Jaanai Gordon was never destined to emerge from the bubbles for a West Ham first-team game.
Gordon made the move to West Ham from Peterborough in January 2014 but he then faded into the background and was never spoken of again.
His only involvement with the senior squad was as an unused substitute in the 5-0 loss at Forest in the same month he signed. Coaches quickly cut their losses, it seems.
Impact rating: 0/10
Marco Borriello
Joined the club: January 2014 (£700,000 loan deal)
Left the club: July 2014
Goals: 0
Experienced Italian striker Borriello arrived in the Premier League on loan from Italian giants Roma having spent his career in his homeland.
But he looked lost and failed to score in his two Premier League appearances. Injuries eventually brought his living nightmare to an early end.
Now retired, it remains one of the most uninspiring cameos the Hammers fan-base have ever seen. A shadow of the player many had expected given his pedigree.
Impact rating: 1/10
Marco Borriello proved an expensive rental and he couldn’t even repay West Ham with a goal
Enner Valencia (left) and Mauro Zarate showed moments of promise but ultimately struggled to put together any run of form in front of goal, combining for a total of 17 goals
Mauro Zarate
Joined the club: May 2014 (Free transfer)
Left the club: January 2016
Goals: 7
On his day a really special player. Sadly for West Ham, it just wasn’t his day very often.
Having experienced Premier League football with Birmingham City in 2008, Zarate returned to England six years later after leaving Velez Sarsfield and there was once again hope from the Hammers that they could coax out his best form.
The Argentinian scored on his competitive debut against Crystal Palace, netted a winner against Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea but the good moments were few and far between.
Down the pecking order he went and he left for Fiorentina with seven goals to his name.
Impact rating: 7/10
Enner Valencia
Joined the club: July 2014 (£12m)
Left the club: July 2017
Goals: 10
These three years were certainly not all bad.
Valencia signed in the same summer as Diafra Sakho following an impressive World Cup with Ecuador. His stock was high and there were plenty of clubs in England ready to sanction a deal.
Interestingly Valencia’s only knowledge of the club was generated from the film Green Street but he soon learned plenty of the fans and did his bit to get them up off their seats – a stunning goal in his full league debut against Hull did the trick.
His second season at the club was hindered by injuries and although he reached double figures – he finished with 10 – he was shipped out on loan to Everton before being sold to Tigres.
Impact rating: 8/10
Diafra Sakho
Joined the club: August 2014 (£4.25m)
Left the club: January 2018
Goals: 24
When Sakho is brought up it is often accompanied by the story of the orange Lamborghini.
The £200,000 supercar was left in the same bay for days on end at their Rush Green training facility despite him having already left for Rennes.
Having spent his career in France, West Ham took a risk by signing Sakho from Metz but he hit the ground running and proved to be a hit at Upton Park.
Sakho finished with 24 goals but once he became unsettled he never looked the same player. Appeared to be itching to leave and he eventually made it to Rennes – without the Lamborghini.
Impact rating: 8/10
Diafra Sakho was one of the successes before a sour exit saw him forget his Lamborghini
Nene
Joined the club: February 2015 (Free transfer)
Left the club: July 2015
Goals: 0
At his peak he had Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain on his CV and so pairing up with Sam Allardyce at West Ham didn’t quite seem to mirror the flair which he had shown on the continent.
To the surprise of very few he never scored under Big Sam and was released months after arriving as a free agent.
Impact rating: 3/10
Martin Samuelsen
Joined the club: June 2015 (Undisclosed transfer)
Left the club: January 2020
Goals: 0
Arriving on a free from Manchester City, there was little to lose and seemingly plenty to gain. In the end there was little to gain from a player who failed to score a senior goal for the club.
He’s now in Norway with Haugesund having moved from Hull City where he netted two goals in 18 games.
The words ‘finding your level’ spring to mind here.
Impact rating: 3/10
Nikica Jelavic
Joined the club: August 2015 (£3m)
Left the club: February 2016
Goals: 2
What is it with West Ham, strikers and deadline day? Doing the same thing and expecting different results is not going to go well and so it proved with Jelavic.
Joining from Hull, Jelavic linked up again with Slaven Bilic, who he played under for Croatia, but he managed just one top-flight goal. Any hope he could recapture his form for Everton at Goodison Park a few years earlier was nothing more than hope in the end.
He made a hasty exit to the Chinese Super League and now 36 announced his retirement earlier this year.
Impact rating: 3/10
West Ham were unable to revive Nikica Jelavic back into the player he was while at Everton
Luka Belic
Joined the club: September 2015 (free transfer)
Left the club: February 2017
Goals: 0
Shrouded in complete mystery. Who is he? Did he ever play? Was this signing real? A striker. No. Yes. In short.
Belic became the youngest player to feature in Serbia’s top tier aged 16 with OFK Beograd in 2012 and as such media soon drew attention to him.
But West Ham didn’t know what they had got themselves in for and having tried to get him going with a loan at Motherwell they moved on by ditching him in February 2017.
Impact rating: 0/10
Michail Antonio
Joined the club: September 2015 (£7m transfer)
Left the club: STILL AT THE CLUB
Goals: 52
Not a typical striker but he has proven much more useful in front of goal than some of those with big reputations and big price tags.
His speed means he is always a threat and his finishing has improved in recent seasons, so much so he’s now a go-to option through the middle.
The fact West Ham felt they could cut their losses on Haller and go with Antonio speaks volumes.
Impact rating: 9/10
Michail Antonio is still at West Ham and is now their all-time Premier League goalscorer
Emmanuel Emenike
Joined the club: January 2016 (loan deal)
Left the club: July 2016
Goals: 2
An absolute unit of a striker but sadly his physical presence was about as far as it went.
The Nigerian striker arrived at the club on loan from Turkish giants Fenerbahce, where he had experienced Champions League football. That top level experience seemed to prove scant consolation leading the line for the Hammers.
Emenike failed to shine, scoring only in a 5-1 FA Cup rout at Blackburn.
Had chances but was not capable of finishing them off, it seemed.
Impact rating: 5/10
Emmanuel Emenike was a target man but finding the target was something he struggled with
Sofiane Feghouli possessed some clout in Europe when he arrived but left with just four goals
Sofiane Feghouli
Joined the club: June 2016 (Free transfer)
Left the club: August 2017
Goals: 4
The Algerian international was actually known across European football unlike plenty of others on this list but his time was short and sweet – which perhaps made it appear less horrific than the other names here.
He came in in 2016, boasting the Algerian Balon d’Or in 2012, but managed just four goals from out wide.
Sent off on his first Premier League start for a challenge on Manchester United’s Phil Jones. Arriving with a bang but, sort of, fizzled out.
Impact rating: 7/10
Toni Martinez
Joined the club: July 2016 (£2.4m)
Left the club: July 2019
Goals: 0
Not a single league appearance to his name. Another obscure name holed away in quizzes played on a rainy day.
The Spaniard was thrown out there in FA Cup ties against Shrewsbury and Wigan but to little effect.
He did cause quite a stir with the Under 23 team, though, netting 25 goals in 29 games. If fans just watched the youth side they may well have thought they’d hit the jackpot. Not so.
Impact rating: 5/10
Ashley Fletcher
Joined the club: July 2016 (£700,000)
Left the club: July 2017
Goals: 1
Made just two Premier League starts and saw his fleeting West Ham career end with a single goal.
West Ham were said to get a ‘fantastic offer’ for him from Middlesbrough and so decided to flip an asset that was becoming less and less integral to the first team.
Scored his only Hammers goal against former club Manchester United in the League Cup. Grabbed a headline or two – even if they did lose that one 4-1.
Impact rating: 7/10
Ashley Fletcher was off Man United’s production line but didn’t quite hit the heights in London
Simone Zaza
Joined the club: August 2016 (£5m loan fee)
Left the club: January 2017
Goals: 0
Dreadful. Utterly dreadful.
The Italian’s resume is not even all that bad but his time in the UK capital is best forgotten, rather than remembered.
Zaza failed to score and later revealed that after missing that horrendous penalty for Italy against Germany at Euro 2016 – go and dig it out, never gets old – he was never the same player.
Whatever the excuse, he may be the worst bit of business on strikers the club have ever done.
Impact rating: 1/10
Jonathan Calleri
Joined the club: August 2016 (loan deal)
Left the club: July 2017
Goals: 1
Jonathan Calleri is an answer to a really obscure West Ham quiz question somewhere, isn’t he? For all the horror shows on this list, some are only known to fans with the best memory in the stands and Calleri’s 2016-17 loan deal certainly falls into the obscure.
Joining on loan from Uruguayan second division outfit Deportivo Maldonado, he went on to score just once before being sent back packing.
Slaven Bilic, manager of the time, remarked the club had signed a ‘top’ striker when it was put to him just who was Calleri? He always did make for a good poker face…
Impact rating: 2/10
Andre Ayew
Joined the club: August 2016 (£20.5m transfer)
Left the club: January 2018
Goals: 12
Arriving for a then club record fee from Swansea, Ayew arrived with fans full of expectation.
He had made quite a splash in South Wales and now he was looking to break was appeared to be a striker curse in east London.
Made 50 appearances and scored 12 goals with a brace against Tottenham in the League Cup his West Ham highlight. Soon ran back to Swansea and looks much more comfortable in Wales.
Impact rating: 6/10
Andre Ayew was so-so after arriving from Swansea but he soon raced back to South Wales
Jonathan Calleri (left) proved to be a bust but Javier Hernandez proved more effective
Marko Arnautovic
Joined the club: July 2017 (£20m)
Left the club: July 2019
Goals: 22
Joining for a club record fee at the time, Gold and Sullivan were rolling the dice once again on a striker.
His start was pretty slow – he was sent off on his second appearance for an elbow – but once he found his engine he was off and away, winning Hammer of the Year for the 2017-18 season.
Arnautovic’s exit left a sour taste, though. A 45-word, two paragraph statement said it all about the mood around the Austrian at the time as he moved to Shanghai SIPG for £23m.
But as for his impact, unquestionably one of the better pieces of business in the last 11 years.
Impact rating: 9/10
Javier Hernandez
Joined the club: July 2017 (£16m)
Left the club: September 2019
Goals: 17
Now a player with real top-level pedigree.
Javier ‘Chicarito’ Hernandez is right up there with the best technical strikers West Ham have had. His finishing, as he showed at Manchester United previously, can be brilliant.
It ultimately ended in a transfer request and a move to Sevilla but in comparison to others on his list, did far more for the Hammers attack than most.
Impact rating: 7/10
Jordan Hugill
Joined the club: January 2018 (£10m)
Left the club: August 2020
Goals: 0
This signing makes less and less sense every time fans bring it up.
He was enjoying the most prolific season of his career with Preston North End in the Championship when the call came from Moyes. Twenty-two games later, West Ham were trying to find a way to cut their losses.
Loan spells at Middlesbrough and Queens Park Rangers followed before he was sent packing to Norwich. A head-scratcher for the board signing off on Hugill three years ago.
Impact rating: 2/10
Jordan Hugill (left) was a disaster but Andriy Yarmolenko is still trying to prove himself
Oladapo Afolayan
Joined the club: February 2018 (Undisclosed fee)
Left the club: June 2021
Goals: 1
The writing was on the wall when he was not even be close to being in the first team at 23.
It was his form with non-league Solihull Moors that drew Premier League attention and West Ham were pleased to have ‘snapped up’ the ‘prolific’ forward, read the press release.
He started out with Chelsea through until he was 15 before moving with his family to Canada and joining the Toronto FC Academy. Afoalyan eventually made his debut in January this year, even scoring in an FA Cup win over Doncaster Rovers.
Hammers chiefs had already made up their mind however, and he moved on a free transfer to Bolton Wanderers this summer.
Impact rating: 1/10
Andriy Yarmolenko
Joined the club: July 2018 (£17.5m)
Left the club: STILL AT THE CLUB
Goals: 10
In his fourth full season with the Hammers, there is a general scepticism towards a player that has still not returned a double-digit goal return.
A superstar at Dynamo Kiev that seemed to fall off the wagon in 26 games with Borussia Dortmund, Yarmolenko is best described as solid, if rather unspectacular, in a West Ham jersey.
Deserves credit for coming back from a ruptured achilles tendon in 2019-20.
Impact rating: 6/10
Xande Silva
Joined the club: August 2018 (Free transfer)
Left the club: August 2021
Goals: 0
Probably passed by Vlasic in the opposite direction on deadline day, having left the club to join Nottingham Forest.
Silva signed for West Ham United’s Academy back in August 2018 and had just 96 minutes of first team action.
The Portuguese youngster got 17 minutes in a 2-0 defeat by Burnley on December 30, 2018, and then got a start in an FA Cup third round win over Birmingham 10 days later.
He caught the eye of Hammers’ scouts at Vitoria Guimaraes and spent last season on loan at Greek side Aris Thessaloniki.
Impact rating: 3/10
Xande Silva (right) left West Ham on deadline day to join Nottingham Forest on a two-year deal
Lucas Perez
Joined the club: August 2018 (£4m)
Left the club: May 2019
Goals: 6
Looking back, Perez didn’t like it much in England. A spell at Arsenal brought mixed results – he did win the FA Cup – and then a switch from north to east London did little to salvage his Premier League experience.
Described on the club website as a ‘versatile’ striker but not versatile enough to register a single assist in his one season in claret and blue.
His highlight was a brace in a 3-1 midweek win over Cardiff. Both club and player were glad to see this relationship come to an end.
Impact rating: 5/10
Mesaque Dju
Joined the club: January 2019 (Free transfer)
Left the club: STILL AT THE CLUB
Goals: 0
Signed on a free but without a first team appearance to his name, feels unfair to bring the hammer down on the Portugal Under 20 forward.
He has four goals in 20 appearances for West Ham’s Under 23 side and at 21 remains a raw prospect for the future.
Dju may come good, he may not. At this point it’s anybody’s guess which road he goes down in east London.
Impact rating: 0/10
Sebastien Haller
Joined the club: July 2019 (£42m transfer)
Left the club: January 2021
Goals: 14
The club’s record signing at £42m. The big splash in the market during Gold and Sullivan’s time in charge. And now he’s at Ajax, sold for a £15m loss.
He arrived as the sixth most expensive striker in the history of the Premier League and yet was a huge disappointment – even if the goals he did score were pretty special.
Haller’s misses were often glaring and he seemed to constantly be shy of any confidence. Making such a big loss makes for bad optics but fans were no doubt keen to see him go.
Impact rating: 3/10
Sebastian Haller failed to live up to his club record price tag and joined Ajax in January
Albian Ajeti
Joined the club: August 2019 (£8m)
Left the club: August 2020
Goals: 0
Arrived for £8m and yet left without a goal. In short – completely forgettable.
The Swiss striker made 12 appearances in his only season at the club before being freed from his nightmare by accepting a permanent switch to join Scottish champions Celtic.
He has six goals so far for Celtic and is certainly finding life much more palatable north of the border.
Impact rating: 5/10
Jarrod Bowen
Joined the club: January 2020 (£18m)
Left the club: STILL AT THE CLUB
Goals: 9
There was lots of back-and-forth to get this deal over the line on deadline day last year but West Ham will be thankful they did after an impressive start at the club.
Seems to have found his feet now and his pace in the forward line adds a genuine threat for David Moyes to call on.
Has just the nine goals in a Hammers shirt so far but at 24 he is continuing to get better and better.
Impact rating: 8/10
Nikola Vlasic failed to score in the Premier League during his time at Everton but did manage two goals in the Europa League, including against Limassol (above)
Nikola Vlasic
Joined the club: August 2021 (£35m)
While we obviously cannot write about his West Ham impact, we can have a glimpse of Vlasic’s previous form in the Premier League when he was at Everton for the 2017-18 season.
The headline stats are an alarming read at first glance. Twelve games and zero goals.
However, the versatile 23-year-old was often deployed on the right wing so to judge him purely on goals is not quite so fair. Even Moyes will be hoping to play the Croatia international across his frontline.
Yet, while at Goodison Park he was unable to provide a single assist either and was soon frozen out under Marco Silva. Hammers fans will hope his game has come on leaps and bounds in the three years since.
CLUB’S TOTAL SPEND: £258MILLION
TOTAL GOALS: 305 goals from 50 players
PRICE PER GOAL: £846,000
Brian Montenegro (left) and Frederic Piquionne stand among the most forgettable buys
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