East London was in concert on the day that it happened. David Moyes had triumphed in re-signing for West Ham United in a managerial capacity and not only lifting the club away from the pit of the Premier League but completing three successive seasons in Europe and winning the Conference League in 2022/23.
West Ham have enjoyed riches that every club outside of the so-called ‘big six’ can only dream of, Leicester City aside, no team other than one of the big six has tasted major silverware in England for over a decade. But Moyes had clearly reached the end of his tenure and it was widely agreed that it was time for him to move on.
It’s remarkable that the Irons have reached such soaring heights without properly shaking off the curse at centre-forward, with the role of chief goalscorer something that has floored many a talented forward across recent years.
1.
Jarrod Bowen
44
20
2.
Mohammed Kudus
45
14
3.
Tomas Soucek
52
10
4.
Lucas Paqueta
53
8
5.
Michail Antonio
32
7
6.
James Ward-Prowse
51
7
Jarrod Bowen actually claimed first place in West Ham’s goalscoring charts last season, operating in a kind of hybrid role that saw him flit between number nine and his regular right-flanking role given the absence of a recognised striker.
But he’s not an actual striker in the traditional sense of the word.
West Ham's striker curse
It’s familiar territory. West Ham completed the signing of Niclas Füllkrug from Borussia Dortmund this summer in a deal worth £27m, with the German international arriving off the back of an excellent Euro 2024 campaign and a season with the Yellow Wall that saw him post 16 goals and ten assists across all competitions.
Füllkrug’s start to life in London has been met with adversity, yet to score or assist and missing the past five matches due to injury. The 31-year-old has ample time to turn it around but he’d do well not to look back at the path previously travelled by Hammers strikers.
In 2019, West Ham announced the club-record signing of Sebastian Haller from Eintracht Frankfurt in a move that cost them £45m – the Ivorian lasted a season and a half before moving to Ajax, having only scored ten times in the Premier League.
Presently, Danny Ings has flattered to deceive during his time in east London, joining from Aston Villa for £15m in January 2023 but only scoring five times from 54 matches, which is hardly befitting a player of his proven calibre in English football.
However, Gianluca Scamacca is surely the pick of the wilted bunch here, proving to be such a let-down after creating great fanfare when moving from Italy to the London Stadium.
How much Gianluca Scamacca cost West Ham
It was quite the signing. Moyes had earned plaudits for the improvements that he had made at West Ham, but after cashing in on Haller well before, a new star up top was needed.
Scamacca, who had bagged 16 Serie A goals from 36 matches the previous year with Sassuolo, was truly a signing to get excited about, but his time as an Iron proved to be anything but auspicious.
He scored eight goals in all competitions for West Ham, but given four opponents were Viborg, Silkeborg IF, Anderlecht and AEK Larnaca, it’s hard to claim that he popped up in the biggest moments, notching three goals from 16 games in the Premier League. The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas called the whole ordeal a massive “disappointment”.
1.
Lucas Paqueta
£150k-per-week
2.
Danny Ings
£125k-per-week
2.
Kurt Zouma
£125k-per-week
4.
Alphonse Areola
£120k-per-week
5.
Emerson Palmieri
£95k-per-week
6.
Gianluca Scamacca
£90k-per-week
Moreover, Scamacca wasn’t exactly a low-cost employee on the wage bill, with his £90k-per-week earnings costing West Ham over £5m in salary fees across just the one year that he spent at the club. Of course, his homesickness and want to leave saw him complete a £21m transfer to Atalanta back in Italy.
This marks good business from United, who saved some of the money that was spent on bringing him to the side in the first place, but even so, that is cash that could have been spent elsewhere and might have had a significant effect on the club’s season, had it been more efficiently applied.
You might notice that there are a couple of notable absentees on that wage bill above. Bowen, who earned £60k-per-week at the time, must have been somewhat disgruntled by the Italy international taking home a heavier purse while putting in only a measure of the performances.
Moreover, midfield general Declan Rice was also earning about £60k-per-week before completing his seismic £105m transfer to Arsenal at about the same time Scamacca jumped ship. Such revelations only highlight the wayward purchase for a player who initially promised so much more.
Despite only being on the books for one year, Scamacca drained West Ham’s finances. His £35.5m transfer fee, combined with the £5m’s worth of earnings that he pocketed across his sole season, make it around £40m of cash splurged.
You could argue that since West Ham won the Conference League, such qualms are forfeit, but Scamacca only featured twice past the group phase that United breezed through, bagging once against Larnaca in the round of 16, though given that it was a 6-0 aggregate victory, his contribution was hardly definitive.
He was branded “miserable” by pundit Chris Sutton, and perhaps that’s an apt phrase to coin his time in the Premier League, clearly disinterested and casting maudlin gazes back at his homeland.
Given that the Italy international is clearly a striker of high-class quality, it’s a real frustration that he didn’t adapt to life under Moyes’ wing, especially since he technically cost West Ham £5m per goal across his sole year.
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