Pelle-Giroud-Costa-Cole?

OK, so the last name was a bit of a red herring, but Carlton Cole who works with the academy as a mentor for the youngsters is still only 37 years old, mooted Hammers striker targets for this window are Graziano Pellè age 35, Olivier Giroud age 34 and Diego Costa at the sprightly age of 32.

David Moyes has cast an eye over Graziano Pellè as a target, the 35 year old is a free agent and is now without a club after leaving Chinese side Shandong Luneng. Despite his age, there are plenty of suitors for the striker, including Juventus and Inter Milan, while there are two ‘serious proposals’ from clubs outside Italy, one of which being from a Middle East club and the other is from the Irons. Pelle spent two seasons at Southampton and West Ham tried to sign him before he left for Shandong Luneng in 2016, so there was interest in him before now.

Pellè is currently in Dubai and would have to quarantine for 10 days where ever he ends up, although that would make him unavailable for a few games, his fitness would be more of an issue as he would clearly need at least a couple of weeks 'pre-season' before he could even be considered for the rigours of the Barclays Premier League! Diego Costa, the club are interested in Costa but wages could be an issue.

Olivier Giroud has been linked with West Ham almost as much as Declan Rice has been linked with Giroud's current club, Chelsea. At 34 years of age Giroud is no spring chicken, but he knows where the back of the net is, and would have been a good short term, possibly loan, signing. Unfortunately despite Giroud being desperate for game time ahead of the delayed Euro's, a factor that could have seen him leaving Chelsea during this window, it seems unlikely that the player will leave, for two reasons. Firstly he has been given a lot more game time of late, and secondly his beleaguered manager Frank Lampard may well be exiting himself during the window, Roman Abramovitch doesn't 'do failure', especially when he has bankrolled over £250 Million worth of acquisitions in the transfer market.

At ONLY 32 years of age, Diego Costa's availability on a free transfer could prove attractive to West Ham, he knows the Barclays Premier League well from his time with Chelsea, and by all accounts he is keen to return to 'the best league in the world'. Costa has received offers from several European clubs but would prefer giving the Premier League another bash, the only stumbling block would be the player's wages, but if Moyes adopts his usual 'canny' approach to the transfer it might benefit all parties involved.

West Ham could potentially sign Costa, even if they had to 'pay large' on his wages initially, he could be signed on a two or three year deal, utilised by Moyes for a season or two and then be sold on for a profit that would cover his wages for the time he was at the club, in essence a striker for free!

Costa looks like he is worth a punt, viewed by an outsider looking in, whether David Moyes shares that opinion is another matter, but Costa seems the most logical choice out of the three candidates. - Ed