Should West Ham pay over the odds for a striker?

It seems West Ham could be left striker light after the window. Marko Arnautovic's body language suggests he wants a move and there is the argument, voiced by Ian Wright and Jermaine Jenas, that a sulking Arnie could ruin the dressing room spirit. If Shanghai upped their offer to £45m it would be hard to turn down for a soon to be 30-year-old player whose brother insists he wants to leave for the sake of his wallet, sorry I mean challenging for titles. 

Meanwhile Valencia are after Chicharito and the player is apparently keen to go. Much could depend on man management here. Could Pellegrini persuade either of our wantaway strikers that the PL is the place to be and why not give it another five months and see if West Ham can win the FA Cup or finish seventh? And would they go on strike if denied a move?

If just Arnie left there might be a case for making do with Hernandez, Antonio, Carroll and Perez as strikers. With 31 points on the board WHU should be out of the relegation scrap. Strikers bought in the transfer window tend to be massively overpriced, with Bournemouth mentioning a stonking £75 million as a price for Callum Wilson. Or they are panic buys — anyone remember Jordan Hugill? 

There are a lot of options to ponder. Perhaps a deal for Tammy Abraham (wanted by Wolves) might be the answer as at least he's young? Or playing Nasri behind the main striker? Though if two strikers left it would leave the Hammers desperately short up front and relying on Andy Carroll staying fit. Don't panic, Mr Mainwaring, don't panic!

Hernandez knows where the net is

We're having a much better transfer window this summer, opting for proven PL quality rather than numbers. With West Ham agreeing a £16m deal for Javier Hernandez, subject to his medical, the Irons have a proven goalscorer. Hernandez has a great goals to game ratio; he scored 59 goals in 156 appearances (quite a few of these as a sub) for Man United and 39 times in 76 games for Bayern Leverkusen and 7 in 23 while on loan at Real Madrid. Not to mention 48 strikes for Mexico. Interestingly, Jose Mourinho was openly critical of David Moyes for allowing Henandez to leave Man United. Yes, he's a little old at 29, but should have a good few years left.

Javier's also the third player with a title medal to join his summer. That doesn't guarantee anything of course, QPR signed title winners Park Ji Sung, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Jose Bosingwa only to end up relegated. But our players look more solid characters and we should now have a mentality for grinding out results. Hernandez will also be the first West Ham player to be nicknamed Chicharito ('Little Pea') which makes a change from Nobes and Ginge.