West Ham made no secret of their desire to sign a new striker in the winter transfer window, and with the arrivals of Taty Castellanos and Pablo, they achieved that.

While the latter has suffered an injury that will rule him out for several weeks, Castellanos scored his second goal for the Hammers in their most recent Premier League victory against Burnley.

However, things may have panned out very differently after the Irons were linked with a move to Swansea City’s Vipotnik.

And based on what he’s done since, that may have been a good thing.

Zan Vipotnik could have changed West Ham’s fortunes

While it is promising that Castellanos has scored twice for the Hammers already, Nuno Espirito Santo will still be expecting more from him.

And while that may still come, there is a sense that they missed an opportunity with Vipotnik.

At the time when the Hammers were linked with him, the Slovenian had scored eight goals in 19 Championship appearances for the Swans.

But since then, Vipotnik has scored a further seven in his last 11 appearances, taking him up to 15 league goals so far this campaign, the most of anyone in the Championship.

What’s even more impressive is the fact that those goals have arrived from an xG of just 7.03, showcasing his ability to do something with nothing, which is what West Ham have often lacked in the final third.

Could we still see Vipotnik at West Ham?

That will likely come down to which division West Ham are in next season.

If the Hammers can stay in the Premier League, then there is every chance that we see them make a fresh move for the 23-year-old, albeit it will likely cost a lot more if he keeps up his current form.

However, if relegation does happen, it would make very little sense for Vipotnik to make the move when he will undoubtedly have offers from other top-flight sides.

He would certainly offer something different to the Hammers’ frontline, and if the option is still there in the summer, they would be silly not to look back into it.

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