An exciting striker David Moyes wanted to bring to West Ham United has been ruled out for over a year after picking up a serious injury playing in Europe.
As West Ham fans know only too well, Moyes elected not to sign a striker in the summer window.
That has left West Ham with injury prone Michail Antonio as the club’s only proper striker.
After selling Haller, Moyes wanted an exciting young striker from Ajax.
This is true even though Moyes sent Sebastien Haller to Ajax back in January.
With six months to find and sign a forward, Hammers supporters were confident Moyes would do just that.
Lassina Traore, an exciting talent Haller was giving more competition for at Ajax, is one player it is said he did want to bring to West Ham.
According to an insider, Moyes had a sincere interest in Traore, but Ajax was unwilling to sell.
According to De Telegraaf via Voetbal Primeur, West Ham was reportedly very interested in then-Ajax youngster Traore after selling Haller.
And at the time, West Ham insider ExWHUemployee supported those assertions in a speech on The West Ham Way podcast.
West Ham’s interest was also reported by Football London, which stated that Moyes was up against competition from Wolves, a Premier League rival.
However, Ajax ultimately supposedly informed West Ham that they were hoping to get the young forward to sign a new, long-term contract rather than selling.
An insider stated that although Moyes had a sincere interest in Traore, Ajax refused to sell.
West Ham was reportedly very interested in Ajax youngster Traore after selling Haller, according to De Telegraaf via Voetbal Primeur.
ExWHUemployee, a West Ham insider, confirmed those assertions at the time in a speech on The West Ham Way podcast.
Football London also revealed West Ham’s interest, stating that Moyes was up against competition from Wolves, a Premier League rival.
But ultimately, it’s said that Ajax informed West Ham that they were hoping to get the young forward to sign a new, long-term contract rather than selling.
Ajax feared losing the young star for nothing, so they made a cut-price move to Shakhtar in the summer.
Instead, West Ham used Jesse Lingard as a second striker after signing him on loan from Manchester United in January.
Then, for about £8 million in the summer, 20-year-old Traore—who was about to enter the final year of his contract—moved to Shakhtar Donetsk.
Now, in his early career, the man Moyes supposedly wanted at West Ham has suffered a cruel blow.
Traore suffered a severe injury during the Champions League match against Inter, and Shakhtar has confirmed that he will miss a full year of action.
Man Moyes was ruled out for a year with a terrible injury, but he was wanted by West Ham.
Traore and Denzel Dumfries went after the same ball just seven minutes into the match. The Inter player’s body unintentionally caught the former West Ham target’s foot, causing his ankle and knee to veer abnormally.
After being carried off in pain, Traore’s club has now provided an update on his health.
The club website quotes chief medic Artur Hlushchenko as saying, “The knee joint structures are damaged.”
He’s going to have surgery in two weeks. For there to be enough flexion in the knee joint, the swelling must gradually go down.
“That wound is extremely serious.”
“This is a very serious injury. Traore’s recuperation might take a year or nine months.
Any player’s injury is always heartbreaking, but it is particularly so for such a bright young talent who had been connected to West Ham.
Hopefully, he fully recovers and returns to the field for the upcoming season, with a full career ahead of him.
