A striker on the way?

We're still striker light, with Moyes' search seemingly taking longer than Lord of the Rings, though the Irons are after Chelsea's Armando Broja, who really troubled the WHU defence with his pace last season. It's also reported that West Ham have put in a £34m offer for Sassuolo's Gianlucca Scamacca, who sounds like he could be part of the lyrics of Bohemian Rhapsody, and is an Italian international. Macca would be an easy nickname, which is always worth considering when making a signing.

Two extra strikers would be ideal, though you do wonder if the Hammers are being too ambitious in their targets. Phillips and Raphina were never likely to leave Leeds for West Ham in January (and ended up at Man City and Barcelona) while another reported target, Darwin Nunez, held out of a move to Liverpool this summer. Chelsea might yet want to keep Broja, so perhaps a hungry striker from the Championship, like Blackburn's Ben Brereton Diaz, might yet be our best option. Though if we do get Broja, even on loan, it would certainly be exciting.

Striker light

Interesting to watch Sebastien Haller playing in his first two games for Ajax. His body language certainly looked very different. When he made a goal he wheeled away with his arm in the air and when he scored he looked delighted. None of which happened at West Ham, where he always looked disgruntled even when scoring, suggesting he regretted his move to the Irons. There's no doubt he has talent and he'll be good for a team dominating possession and challenging at the top of the league. But Haller really didn't suit playing for a team like WHU that plays on the break.

Without Haller we're down to one fit striker in Antonio. We really shouldn't be asking Michail and his dodgy hamstrings to complete three games in eight days tonight. The only alternative is 18-year-old Mipo Odubeko who came on for four minutes at Stockport. He might be promising but is he ready for a run in the Premier League?

It was bad planning to start the season with only two strikers in Antonio and Haller. Now Haller has gone it's essential to get another striker in as Antonio surely won't be fit for all the remaining 20 games. Bids for Sevilla striker En-Nesri and Montpellier's Laborde have already reportedly failed. Moyes can claim that he will work with what he's got if nothing comes off, but it would be unprofessional to try to get through half a season with just one striker. Even if it's a loan we have to get another body in the box.

Sign on with hope in your heart?

All quiet on the striker front. It appears Solomon Kalou has turned us down because Sam won't guarantee that he plays down the middle (seems BS's tactical inflexibility has cost us there) and Luic Remy looks set for Newcastle, though with the possibility of a rape charge against Remy following his arrest in May, I don't think we should have him anywhere near Upton Park until that case is resolved.

There's also a rumour we're interested in Werder Bremen's Marko Arnutovic. Doesn't seem like BS is interested in Darren Bent either. All rather worrying as we're left with an unfit Andy Carroll and Modibo Maiga as our only established strikers. On a more positive note, Joe Cole has introduced Razvan Rat to Roland Rat videos on YouTube. Indeed, Roland Rat may have to play up front for us at this rate.

Striker light

Today's papers seem to have us signing either Benny McCarthy (Sunday Times) or Eidur Gudjohnsson on loan (NOTW).

One name to consider is maybe Dave Kitson of Stoke. He might have struggled at the Britannia but always scored against us with Reading and was being talked of as an England striker a couple of years ago. Think he might have been out on loan this season though, which would mean we had to get round the not having three clubs in a season rule.