Fabrizio Romano reveals West Ham eyeing mammoth January, with deadly striker duo wanted

Senior West Ham United officials are aiming to make it a huge January transfer window with several new additions to David Moyes’ squad, Fabrizio Romano has revealed.

West Ham currently sit ninth in the Premier League, having won seven out of their 16 matches so far. They picked up an impressive 2-1 away victory over Tottenham Hotspur in midweek but capitulated against Fulham on Sunday, shockingly losing 5-0 at Craven Cottage.

It has since emerged that West Ham were hit by a sickness bug in the build up to the Fulham game, which explains that surprising result somewhat. But it is clear that if the Irons are to move up the table and get involved in the hunt for Europa League qualification, they need to make several new signings.

Moyes also needs his squad to be bolstered amid their Europa League campaign. They have already qualified for the knockout stage of the competition and will face Freiburg on Thursday to decide the Group A winner.

One area of particular interest to West Ham is centre-forward. Michail Antonio has missed their last four league matches due to a knee injury and is hoping to return later this month.

With Moyes refusing to start either Danny Ings or youngster Divin Mubama, this has seen winger Jarrod Bowen selected up front. And while Bowen is proving himself to be a useful striker, it is clear that West Ham need a new player in the position if they are to reach the next level.

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And it looks like West Ham will push hard to find a solution next month, with Romano tipping them for an eventful January.

“I expect West Ham to be busy in January as they’re looking at opportunities around, though it’s still too early to say anything about specific names. Nothing is advanced, but the owners and directors are working on it,” he said in an interview with CaughtOffside.

Guirassy, Solanke both of interest to West Ham

And there are two in-form strikers in West Ham’s sights. The first is Stuttgart ace Serhou Guirassy, who has blown the German Bundesliga away this term with 16 goals from just 12 games so far.

And Guirassy’s incredibly low release clause – worth just €17.5million (£15m) – means it is no surprise other teams are sniffing around.

West Ham were one of the first clubs to be named as chasing Guirassy, though Manchester United are now leading the race for him.

Should West Ham miss out on Guirassy to Man Utd, then they could go all out for Bournemouth attacker Dominic Solanke instead.

Solanke is enjoying a great season, having netted eight goals in 16 Prem games so far. That includes a goal in Bournemouth’s stunning 3-0 victory at Old Trafford over the weekend.

Following that performance, Romano said of the 26-year-old: “I’ve been impressed with him this season as he always looked like an excellent player with great potential, but he’s now showing it more consistently.

“In terms of a transfer, he’s happy at Bournemouth but many clubs are tracking him, including West Ham. Let’s see what will happen, but for the moment I understand he’s happy there and performing very well.”

While transfermarkt value Solanke at €20m (£17m), it is clear that he will cost far more than Guirassy. Bournemouth will not want to strengthen a Prem rival and could therefore hand him a price tag of £40m or more.

In addition to hunting a striker, West Ham are also expected to bid for a new left-back this winter. Emerson Palmieri is the first-choice option, with Aaron Cresswell being relegated to the role of backup due to injury problems.

Given Cresswell’s fitness woes, plus the fact he is now 33 years of age, it would make sense if West Ham brought in a new left-back who can properly rival Emerson for his starting spot.