West Ham's 5-Year Struggle to Replace Michail Antonio

Since winning the Europa Conference League in 2023, West Ham United have endured a frustrating decline. Of course, a European Cup was an anomaly, but the continuous mismanagement - whether that's from those in the dugout or on the board - has led to many Hammers fans becoming apathetic towards their club's current situation.

Recruitment is at the heart of that apathy, particularly in the forward areas. It has almost become a running joke that every year, West Ham buy a striker billed as a 'Michail Antonio replacement' - but by the midway point of the following season, either due to injuries or poor performances, Antonio worms his way back in. If not for current injuries sustained in his car accident, you could bet that he would be leading the line at the London Stadium.

Antonio joined West Ham in the summer of 2015 from Nottingham Forest for a modest £7 million. Back then, he was seen as a raw, versatile winger — powerful, direct, unorthodox, and not quite polished enough for the Premier League. Few would have predicted he'd eventually become the club's all-time leading scorer in the Premier League era.

It should be acknowledged that he didn’t immediately find his feet up front. His transformation into a striker didn’t happen until post-lockdown under David Moyes. In fact, during that period, he scored 9 goals in 8 league games, and since then he has been considered a striker.

1) Sébastien Haller

In the summer of 2019, West Ham swung big. They broke their transfer record to sign Sébastien Haller from Eintracht Frankfurt for £45 million. Technically gifted and prolific in the Bundesliga, Haller was supposed to be the striker West Ham had lacked for years.

Initially, there were glimpses of promise. He scored a brace against Watford in just his third Premier League appearance which suggested that West Ham had found their new Number 9, but the goals soon dried up. Haller ended his first season with just 7 league goals in 32 appearances - and the lack of goals on top of the fact that he frequently looked like a square peg in a round hole - isolated and ineffective in a system that required more mobility and tenacity than he offered - meant that he didn't work out.

David Moyes, who returned midway through that season, quickly lost faith. Haller’s failure wasn’t entirely his fault - he thrived at Frankfurt in a dynamic front two, but in East London, he was marooned up top, with little support and even less service. By January 2021, he was sold to Ajax for just over £20 million - a hefty loss and a quiet exit for a record signing who had arrived with such expectation. Haller would later go on to shine in the Champions League, underlining the sense that West Ham never really knew what to do with him.

2) Gianluca Scamacca

The summer of 2022 brought fresh hope in the form of Gianluca Scamacca, another high-profile signing - this time from Sassuolo for £30.5 million. Young, powerful, and having garnished a reputation in Italy, Scamacca looked to many like the solution. He had just scored 16 Serie A goals in a breakthrough campaign, and seemed tailor-made for the Premier League.

But things never quite clicked. He managed just 8 goals in 27 appearances across all competitions in his debut season, with only 3 of those coming in the league. Scamacca struggled with injuries - a recurring knee issue restricted his rhythm - but even when fit, he looked miscast in Moyes’ conservative, reactive setup. A striker who thrived on link-up play and through balls was instead asked to press, hold up play, and chase loose balls. It simply never worked.

Frustration mounted, and by the end of the 2022/23 season, both parties looked ready for a clean break. Scamacca was loaned to Atalanta in the summer of 2023, where, predictably, he rediscovered his scoring touch in a system that played to his strengths. Back in East London, Antonio once again reclaimed his role as the go-to frontman.

3) Danny Ings

With Scamacca not working, the decision was made to go for a proven Premier League goalscorer. Danny Ings joined the Hammers in January 2023 for £12 million. With his past, Ings was seen as a 'low-risk' move: not necessarily one for the long-term but certain to provide goals. Yet it quickly became apparent that the man with over 50 league goals wasn't a good fit.

Ings was a penalty-box poacher in a team that rarely spent much time in the penalty box. He wasn’t built for Moyes' desired style of play: he lacked the physicality to hold the ball up, the legs to lead the press, and the presence to overpower centre-backs. He made just eight starts in the 2022/23 league campaign and scored just three goals in all competitions that season.

Often deployed out of position or thrown into chaotic final stretches of matches, Ings looked like a man playing catch-up. Even this season, with Antonio sidelined, Ings has failed to stake a real claim. In fairness, he was never meant to be a long-term option.

4) Niclas Füllkrug

In the summer of 2024, West Ham dipped back into the Bundesliga market, signing 31-year-old Niclas Füllkrug from Borussia Dortmund. As a proven goalscorer at international level and at Dortmund, Füllkrug was on paper, a signing that showed intent. As a traditional striker with aerial prowess and strong link-up play, he had managed 12 Bundesliga goals in 2023/24.

But injuries, total mismanagement and a calamitous season teamwide means that Füllkrug's season has never really got going. He has missed extensive periods of the season either side of Christmas, and even with Antonio's absence, hasn't particularly inspired Hammers fans. His scathing interview after West Ham dropped points against Southampton on Saturday was quite telling, citing that his teammates have "a mindset problem... we didn't have the ability or motivation... I'm very, very angry".

As mentioned, Füllkrug has International pedigree with Germany and at 32, undoubtedly knows what it takes to be part of a top European team. But his lack of success, amidst the overarching trend of failure for strikers at West Ham, means that it is difficult to see any high-quality strikers asking for a move to east London anytime soon.

All Hail Michail

After a decade at West Ham and now 34, Antonio's time at the top is inevitably running out. Yet when he hangs up his boots, he will surely be considered a club legend - or at the very least, a club hero. The Jamaican has shown a highly desirable work ethic for modern footballers: to play wherever he is needed, in whatever role, for the benefit of his team and at the command of his manager.

Whenever Antonio does leave, West Ham fans can only hope that the striker they sign to replace him is more successful than the 4 they've already tried.