29-year-old with 49 in 99 for his country makes top five worst West Ham signings since 2017
COMMENT
Turn back the clock to January 2017 - Slaven Bilic is in control of matters in East London and there is relative tranquility around the club.
The Hammers went on to secure an 11th place finish in their premier season in their new home and Michail Antonio was the club top scorer with nine goals.
There was hope that the following campaign would bring further progression and with the right signings, there was talk of making a bid for the European places.
Unfortunately, as we all now know, it didn’t quite turn out as the Irons faithful had hoped.
It’s time to take a journey back to the January transfer window of 2017 where it all started to go wrong and find out who Football Insider consider to be the five worst signings up until the present.
Click below to see who sits fifth in our top five list of worst West Ham signings from January 2017 to now
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5. Jose Fonte
There were high hopes for the former Southampton centre-back when he arrived at the London Stadium from the Saints in January 2017.
A stand-out defender at St Mary’s, he was expected to shore up the Hammers rearguard but in his first display for the club, he was part of a side which was taken apart by Manchester City 4-0 and struggled for the remainder of the campaign.
Click below to see who sits fourth in our top five list of worst West Ham signings from January 2017 to now
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4. Javier Hernandez
This should have been a good signing but it’s one of the worst mainly for the way that he has been managed and not because he lacks quality.
One of the best finishers in the game, Hernandez arrived from Bayer Leverkusen just last summer in a £16million deal but has only been handed 16 starts.
For whatever reason, he was neither fancied by Bilic nor current manager David Moyes who has had to turn to the Mexican in light of a spate of injuries to key players.
Often called ‘Chicharito’ the striker remains the club’s second top scorer despite the lack of faith shown in him and has an incredible 49 goals in 99 games for his country.
Click below to see who sits third in our top five list of worst West Ham signings from January 2017 to now
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3. Jordan Hugill
Here’s another player signed with great potential and yet the mismanagement at the club to hand the former Preston North End forward just 22 minutes of action since his move from the Championship in January 2018 is astounding.
A reported £10m capture at a time when the Hammers were struggling with a host of injuries would lead you to think that after notching up ten goals for North End, the 25-year-old would be given an opportunity to continue his form from where he left off - but that hasn't been the case.
Ten minutes against Brighton was followed up with two minutes of action against Watford and another ten minutes against Southampton.
You have to wonder who it is signing these players and what is the point? It doesn't look as though Moyes is getting much of a say.
Click below to see who sits second in our top five list of worst West Ham signings from January 2017 to now
2. Robert Snodgrass
The Scot, who is currently on loan in the Championship with Aston Villa arrived at the London Stadium from Hull City for £10.2million in January 2017, and never really got going in the capital.
And after being shifted out of the club - just six months after signing - David Sullivan publicly admitted that his kids begged him not to sign the Glaswegian born attacker.
So, after making just 15 appearances for the Hammers when his loan to Villa ends this summer, it’s highly unlikely the 30-year-old will play for the club again.
Click below to see who sits first in our top five list of worst West Ham signings from January 2017 to now
1. Joe Hart
The fall from grace that has been witnessed in the career of Joe Hart is astounding.
It wasn’t all that long ago that he was a shoe-in for the England side, as well as Manchester City’s Mr. Dependable.
But after being thrown on the scrapheap by Pep Guardiola, Hart’s confidence and ability between the sticks haven't just nose-dived, they've gone.
Hart's summer loan move from the champions-elect was a bid to resurrect his flailing career with the World Cup looming.
But after falling behind Adrian, whenever the England international has featured, he’s been error-prone and unable to calm a defence which has been all at sea.
His fall from stardom to a bit-part player at the London Stadium makes Hart the worst signing since January 2017 and the disappointment under such high expectations - no wonder Hammers fans are irate!
In other West Ham news, Sullivan and Gold can save Hammers future by snapping up top-flight title winner in summer.