1. Lacina Traoré
Topping the list is this 6ft 8 giant of a man just signed by Monaco from Anzhi Makhachkala. In fact this move will be his first experiences of the climes of Western Europe as previously he has played for CFR Cluj in Romania and Russian outfit Kuban Krasnodar before moving to Anzhi in 2012. Knowing that his employee wouldn't have much game time with Radamel Falcao and Emmanuel Riviere first choice as well as knowing that Traoré needed time to adapt to the technical, pacey and frenetic nature of Western European leagues must have been factors of Claudio Ranieri's decision to sought a loan deal for the player. In terms of goalscoring, last season saw him come 2nd in the Russian scoring charts with 12 and the season before that saw bag 18, so he definitely has pedigree The question is would he have such an immediate rapport with his teammates as Andy Carroll did last season, but if he can, then the 'Gentle Giant' can cause a stir and propel West Ham right up the table, well away from the basement battle. NB: Unless hyperlinked, all player stats are from
Soccerway What are West Ham's chances of staying up? Will Big Sam stay? Will these prospective players play a part? Comment below if you think so.
