Heading into the January transfer window, few teams have a single positional requirement as clear-cut or as desperate as West Ham United’s need for a new striker. Callum Wilson’s recent goals have helped to alleviate their concerns to an extent, but between his worrying track record with injuries and a lack of depth behind him – especially with Niclas Füllkrug seemingly certain to leave – there is little doubt that the Hammers will push to sign a new forward this winter.

Plenty of names have been suggested, although at least one of the players they had hoped to sign – Real Madrid’s Endrick – seems unlikely to be available, with the Brazilian prodigy expected to move on loan to Lyon instead. Now, however, a new name has emerged. Could Promise David provide the long-awaited resolution to West Ham’s attacking woes? And what are the chances that they sign the Canadian striker this January?

Why Promise David could be the ideal solution to West Ham’s striker search

24-year-old David, who plays for Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise, was plucked from relative obscurity in the Estonian league last year and has shone ever since, scoring 20 goals in 44 appearances for his current club including a recent Champions League winner against Galatasaray.

The Ottawa-born forward, who is unrelated to his international team-mate and namesake Jonathan David, is the archetypal number nine – physically imposing, a reliable goalscorer, and with the knack of finding half-yards of space in the box when closely marked. In many ways, he matches the blueprint of the striker West Ham had hoped to sign when they bought Füllkrug.

Standing at 6’4” or 6’5”, depending on which source you choose to believe, David towers above many defenders and has immense strength with which to keep them at bay – but while his stature may be the most immediately noticeable thing about him, it isn’t where his game starts and ends.

His ability to find pockets of space in tightly-packed areas and to peel away from his marker at the correct moment make him extremely dangerous, and while he isn’t a first-rate technical player – his passing is a notable weakness and his finishing actually has him scoring slightly less frequently than his xG total suggests that he should – he gets into so many good positions that he scores plenty of goals.

He’s also dominant in the air and while he tends to score more with his feet than his head (he hasn’t scored a headed goal yet for Union Saint-Gilloise this season), his physical qualities help to make him an effective hold-up man despite a lack of precision in his passes.

In short, he’s a natural target man but ones whose movement also means that his playing style is just as effective when the ball stays on the ground. If he can work space and chances as frequently in the Premier League as he has been able to at a slightly lower level, then he could be a very effective signing for a side like West Ham even if his technical weaknesses suggest that he will likely fall short of becoming a truly elite player. He isn’t an all-rounder, but he is a goalscorer.

West Ham will have to judge whether he will be a 10-goal striker or more in the English top flight as well as in Belgium, but his record in Europe (three goals in seven total games between the Champions League and Europa League) and at international level (three in eight for Canada) are promising data points. But will they sign him, and how likely are the rumours to prove true?

Will West Ham make a move for David in the January transfer window?

The story concerning West Ham’s interest in David seems to have started with West Ham-dedicated site Claret & Hugh, who are generally credited with having close connections within the Hammers’ boardroom – and has since been repeated by other media outlets, including GiveMeSport, although it appears that they are repeating the original story rather than claiming to corroborate it with their own sources.

For now, it must be treated as a transfer rumour which is relatively poorly backed-up by the media at large, but that doesn’t make it untrue, and David certainly seems to have many of the attributes that West Ham have been looking for with previously striker signings such as Füllkrug or Gianluca Scamacca before him.

Claret & Hugh claim that David is likely to cost around £17m, and also suggests that Leeds United (another team in need of some firepower up front) are watching him, while stories elsewhere have also credited Bundesliga outfit VfB Stuttgart with some interest in the striker. There may be competition, but the price seems reasonable for a club like West Ham who are not expected to have a significant amount to spend this winter.

David is far from the only striker linked with a move to the London Stadium and there are other forwards such as Franculino Djú who could well be on the same shortlist – David may well be one of several tempting options, and it may be that they decide to focus their efforts on a different player when the January window opens in a little over a month’s time.

In other words, David may well be a genuine option for West Ham, but he probably isn’t the only player that they’re monitoring and it’s unclear whether he is seen as a priority signing or a back-up to their preferred target. We’ll only know for sure when we get to January – but if David keeps up his recent scoring form, it won’t hurt his candidacy one bit.