West Ham United know all too well the feeling of throwing their house keys on the table, rolling the dice, and being greeted by a pair of snake eyes.

Arguably no club in Europe, let alone the Premier League, has spent so much money on centre-forwards with so little return on their eye-watering investments.

When ranking the worst West Ham United strikers of the modern era, £27 million man Niclas Fullkrug has plenty of competition for a spot on the podium.

Fullkrug remains part of Nuno Espirito Santo’s immediate plans – he made his first appearance in a month off the bench against Bournemouth on Saturday – but short-term involvement does not equal a long-term future.

Fabrizio Romano reports that the former Borussia Dortmund targetman is no longer part of the proverbial ‘project’. A January exit looms, then, for a man who has set the Hammers back £9 million a goal.

And that is without mentioning his hefty wages.

West Ham, though, are not the only club who went into the transfer market in search of a jackpot and ended up with empty hands and even emptier pockets.

German publication Bild, in their assessment of Victor Boniface’s goalless start to life at Werder Bremen, cannot help but wonder if the Bundesliga outfit have ‘gambled and failed’. Nine appearances, zero goals, and doubts bordering on the countless.

Victor Boniface yet to open his Bundesliga account after West Ham United links

This is not how Werder Bremen envisaged their season going. Certainly not after Victor Boniface kicked-off his Werder career with an assist in September’s 4-0 thrashing of Borussia Monchengladbach.

Romano Schmid and Samuel Mbangula – who were also linked with the Hammers earlier in 2025 – found the net that day as Horst Steffen’s new-look attack gelled right from the off.

That four-goal trouncing, though, is feeling more and more like a false dawn.

Who is the worst West Ham striker of the 21st century?

That Werder Bremen will go into December within five points of the European places is, surprisingly, despite the Nigeria international rather than because of him.

West Ham were first linked with Boniface back in 2023, when he was scoring goals by the bucketload for Bayer Leverkusen. In the two years since, the former Union Saint-Gilloise forward has missed 37 games through injury.

Boniface saw a summer move to AC Milan collapse. The Serie A giants got cold feet following serious injuries to both knees.

Werder Bremen coach Horst Steffen on the defensive

Like with Evan Ferguson at Roma, the former West Ham loanee moved to Italy hoping to rediscover the pre-injury form which made him one of the hottest young strikers in Europe. The sheer size of the challenge facing both Roma and Werder Bremen, though, is now becoming crystal clear.

“It’s about time [my strikers] scored,” Steffen said with a large helping of gallows’ humour ahead of the weekend’s clash with RB Leipzig.

With neither Boniface nor Keke Topp breaking their duck at the Red Bull Arena, Steffen’s prayers again went unanswered.

Should West Ham cut their losses on Niclas Fullkrug in January?

“I think it might make sense to make a change.

“Many would probably agree that Niclas is a classic penalty-area striker – strong in the air, physically powerful, able to shield the ball – basically made for the Premier League. [But] in retrospect, you have to say the transfer didn’t work. There’s no sugar-coating it.

“Time and again, just when you thought, ‘now he’s coming, now he’ll show England it wasn’t just a good Euro and then nothing afterwards’, another injury came. And that’s a shame.

“He’s had a bit of negative momentum and also some bad luck” – agent Thorsten Wirth

“It’s clear that we’d like to score goals from our centre-forwards, but our primary goal is to win games,” the head coach said, determined to reduce the pressure on Boniface’s shoulders. “If a centre-forward provides an assist, that’s fine too.

“When our centre-forwards score, it’s good for them and good for us. Ensuring we have the right personnel in the box when crosses are received should also be a priority.”

Boniface and Fullkrug both need their luck to turn

Former Werder Bremen ace Martin Harnik, speaking to Deich Stube, feels that Steffen must free up the mercurial Boniface to play with the swagger and the strut he brought to the table at Bayer Leverkusen.

“He’s certainly a special type,” Harnik argues. “For me, he’s a character you have to let do his own thing. Much like [cult hero] Max Kruse back then, he needs as much freedom as possible.

“If you let him off the leash, then I believe he’s a truly creative player with a lot of joy in the game and will help the team.”

‘Joy’ has been in very short supply for Victor Boniface over the last 16 months.

As Niclas Fullkrug faces up to a winter of relentless speculation, another injury-hit one-time Bundesliga goal-machine has a reputation of his own to rebuild.

But, after West Ham were heavily linked with an August swoop for Boniface, at least the London Stadium is home to only one goal-shy number nine.