It was a goal that displayed brilliant technical ability, one which has become the trademark finish of the striker who scored it and that had West Ham United still ruing their failed move for Ollie Watkins in January 2020. That was when West Ham, then managed by David Moyes, fir st expressed an interest in signing Watkins from fellow London side Brentford , who were then in the second-tier Championship. Four and a half years later, and the now Aston Villa striker’s 90th-minute winner against the Netherlands on Wednesday, which saw England advance to the final of the European Championship , was a reminder of what West Ham could have had.
Advertisement They wanted to augment their striking options as then club-record signing Sebastien Haller (signed for £45million from Eintracht Frankfurt the previous July) had struggled to adapt to English football, but Brentford were reluctant to sell. West Ham signed wide man Jarrod Bowen from another Championship side, Hull City, instead during that winter window and while the 27-year-old has become one of their leading lights and is also in the England squad in Germany this summer, he is not a recognised centre-forward. In truth, up front remains an area of the field West Ham are still trying to get right.
Moyes’ successor this summer, new head coach Julen Lopetegui, will hope he has better success with his hunt for a striker than the Scot did. Although he has his sights set on a Villa forward, the man he’s after is not a prolific, .
