Hammers boss had long list of striker targets in summer transfer window.
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West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has revealed that Tottenham star Jermain Defoe was one of many strikers he had on his shortlist of targets in this summer’s transfer window, he wrote in his column for the London Evening Standard.
The Hammers spent big money on completing a permanent transfer for Andy Carroll from Liverpool, though with Carlton Cole leaving the club Allardyce was keen on more additions upfront, and could have made a controversial move to bring Defoe back to Upton Park.
The Spurs striker left the east London club for White Hart Lane as a youngster back in 2004, and has regularly been booed when playing against his old side, though he may have been a realistic target for them this summer due to his falling down the pecking order in Andre Villas-Boas’ team.
Defoe scored 41 goals in his first spell with West Ham, and the likes of Loic Remy, Demba Ba and Romelu Lukaku were also in Allardyce’s sights this summer.
“We did try very hard to get another striker in on loan during the window,” he said.
“Jermain Defoe, Loic Remy, Romelu Lukaku, Demba Ba, two players from Juventus and Austrian international Marko Arnautovic, who joined Stoke, were all on our radar at one stage or another but for varying reasons, none of them came.”
In the end, the Hammers had to resort to bringing in former Fulham forward Mladen Petric on a free transfer after the closing of the transfer window.