Transfer News: Andre Schurrle a loan target for West Ham?

Another winger? Schürrle you can’t be serious!

West Ham are targeting German international Andre Schürrle, according to a report in The Guardian.

Schürrle burst onto the scene with Mainz, scoring 20 goals over two years. From that point, his trajectory was more or less straightforward. He joined Bayer Leverkusen, broke into the German national team and earned a move to Chelsea.

His first year at Chelsea was impressive as well. Though he was forced to battle for time against Willian, he scored 9 goals, including a hat trick against Fulham. Even more impressively, Schürrle starred as a supersub in The World Cup, scoring against Brazil and assisting Gotze’s final winning goal against Argentina.

Since that moment, Schürrle’s career has been marked by inconsistency. Poor form saw him leave Chelsea, but a move to Wolfsburg failed to revitalize his career. In his second season with Die Wolfe, he broke into form again. A 12 goal season brought a transfer to Borussia Dortmund.

It is that move that has derailed Schürrle’s career. He has yet to score this season, and has only appeared in 5 games.

According to the report, David Moyes hopes to complete a short term loan deal.

Should the story prove accurate, it would be something of a surprise. West Ham have some major issues to address, but the wide areas of the pitch are not the problem. Marko Arnautovic has entered top form, Arthur Masuaku is impressing, and Andre Ayew is the club’s top scorer. Michail Antonio has been the club’s star player over the past season’s.

Still Schürrle is a proven player, and a loan signing would be a low risk, high reward option. If Schürrle can find his best form, he could help West Ham fight for European places.

Meanwhile, The Mirror reports that the Irons are targeting Joe Allen and Lamine Kone. Both players were linked to West Ham during the summer window. Allen has been starting regularly for Stoke City, and Wales. The former Liverpool man would be an expensive transfer, and one that seems unlikely.

Kone is a much more likely signing. A player who impressed in his debut half season under Sam Allardyce, the Ivorian’s form has fallen off a cliff since he was denied a transfer in the summer of 2017. He is currently injured, but should return before the end of the window. David Moyes is familiar with Kone, having coached him during Sunderland’s relegation season last year.