West Ham United are facing something of a crisis in attack.The Hammers have seen Lucas Perez, Marko Arnautovic and Andy Carroll all depart this summer, leaving them short on numbers going forward.Javier Hernandez and Jordan Hugill - scorer of seven goals in 41 games on loan at Championship outfit Middlesbrough in 2018-19 - are the club’s only recognised strikers. That’s despite the new Premier League season starting in a month.And Manuel Pellegrini is seriously struggling in his hunt to bring another striker in.The Guardian are reporting that West Ham are resigned to losing out to Valencia in the race to sign Maxi Gomez from Celta Vigo.

And according to the Mirror, Callum Wilson is set to snub West Ham and sign a new deal at Bournemouth.

The Hammers need to do something. Fast.

West Ham strikers' shocking return

But, given their history when it comes to signing strikers, don’t expect any player they sign to be a hit at the London Stadium.

West Ham have a wretched history of signing forwards since David Gold and David Sullivan became majority owners in January 2010, as proven in a tweet by journalist Chris Deeley.

The club have signed 37 strikers since Gold and Sullivan’s arrival. Combined, they have scored 199 goals in 920 games.

That’s a return rate of one goal every 4.62 matches. Truly terrible.

Among the biggest culprits are Pablo Barrera, who didn’t score a single goal in 23 appearances, Ashley Fletcher (1 in 20), Benni McCarthy (0 in 13), Simone Zaza (0 in 11) and Mido (0 in 9).

West Ham strikers are doomed.

According to the Mirror, Mario Balotelli may be next to try to break the curse.

The Irons have been offered the Italian striker, who is a free agent after leaving Marseille.

Balotelli has shown talent in flashes in recent years, scoring 43 goals in 76 appearances for Nice before hitting eight goals in 12 matches for Marseille.

And at this point, West Ham will probably take anyone.