Since Sebastien Haller departed for Ajax in January 2021, Michail Antonio has been West Ham's lone senior striker for the past 12 months - an issue the forward has admitted needs addressing.
David Moyes agrees with Antonio that the Hammers need to add competition upfront, but the manager has maintained for the past year that he will only bring in the right man not just a body fro the sake of it.
Speaking on the BBC Footballer’s Football Podcast, Antonio said: "One thing that we definitely need is a striker, and the crazy thing is I’m the striker, so somebody is going to come in and try to take my spot.
"But I like a challenge, I like having someone there pushing me, even if they take my spot, I believe I can get it back, it gives me that hunger and that drive. It makes me play better because I need to play well to stay in the team."
Speaking after the summer transfer window closed, Moyes admitted he would have liked to bolster his attacking options but did not believe the right options were available to West Ham.
"We would have liked to have brought in someone who could directly replace Mich [Antonio] during the window. [Someone] Who could possibly help him out but we just could not find anyone," the manager said.
Two-thirds of the way through the January window and West Ham have still not been able to secure another striker, however, Steve Sidwell believes the right man for Moyes is available to him at his former club Chelsea.
"I like [Armando] Broja. Someone young, hungry - I think he’ll be there," Sidwell told BT Sport.
"[He'll] learn quickly, learn his ropes as well. Wouldn’t mind playing a second part to Antonio and getting his chance. Someone of that ilk, young and hungry."
Broja is currently on loan from Chelsea at Southampton and the Albanian has made a good start to life in the Premier League. The striker has scored five and assisted one goal in his nine league starts and West Ham have twice come up against the 20-year-old.
Broja may not have scored against the Hammers but he won a penalty at the London Stadium and gave Craig Dawson a torrid time earlier in the season at St Mary's coming off the bench and smashing the post with a superb second-half effort.
The striker currently has a better goals to minutes ratio than his parent club's star strikers, Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner, and such is his form, Southampton are keen to secure his services permanently.
Blues boss Thomas Tuchel has been impressed with Broja but remained coy on his long-term future, a message that could open the door for West Ham to heed Sidwell's advice.
"He's our player and he's doing good, but at the same time it's only half a season, so he needs to continue to improve and to make his statement at Southampton," Tuchel said.
The German added: "Armando's getting better and better, he's a very unique player with unique strengths in his game, he has speed, he's robust and he's a goalscorer. First of all, now is not the moment to discuss the summer, it's the moment for him to stay calm and keep on improving."
