By Conor Hogan

Fulham winger Adama Traoré looks set to sign for West Ham in the coming days.

The Spaniard, who turned 30 on Sunday, finally appears to be on his way to London Stadium after a month of speculation. 

Although West Ham have been recently linked with the winger for weeks, the Irons have, in truth, been interested in Traoré for almost a decade, going back to his Middlesborough days. The Hammers have come up against the Spaniard 13 times in all competitions, and although he has only managed three goal contributions against the Irons, he has always looked a threat.

In a similar vein to Callum Wilson, Danny Ings, James Ward-Prowse and Robert Snodgrass, Traoré is one of those Premier League players that West Ham have been perennially interested in – and like those players, he looks like he will also be playing in claret and blue come the end of the window.

Traoré would be West Ham’s third senior signing of the January window, and although the prospect of more attackers for the Irons is encouraging, Hammers fans seem sceptical of the move, primarily because of Traoré’s infamous lack of end product.

In a West Ham side that has often proved impotent in attack, Traoré’s inconsistency in the final third has put some fans off. There’s never been doubts over the winger’s physical attributes, but West Ham need to score goals to win games, and Hammers fans fear he will not have the ability to provide goals for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side.

While this is a valid concern, I also believe that West Ham fans are now in a situation where they can’t afford to be picky when it comes to recruitment. The January signings of Taty Castellanos and Pablo have hidden the fact that West Ham have lost three senior players this window, with Lucas Paquetá and Guido Rodríguez also set to depart.

At a modest fee estimated at around £2-3 million, I welcome the Traoré transfer simply because he is a player that will be able to play for West Ham…. It sounds like crazy reasoning, but regardless of your views on Traoré, West Ham need players – and if they can sign a player with over 250 Premier League appearances, then why not?

West Ham currently have an embarrassingly shallow squad, and it seems to only be getting smaller – a few weeks ago, I also deemed Traoré “not good enough” for the Irons. But as Nuno loses more players, the Hammers become more desperate for replacements.

Traoré may not be the most efficient winger, but beggars can’t be choosers, and this is a West Ham side begging for reinforcements.