West Ham United have experienced a nightmare start to life back in the Premier League.

Graham Potter’s job security is already on thin ice at the Hammers a mere two games into the brand new season, having had to watch his hopeless team lose 3-0 away at Sunderland on the opening day, only to then be humiliated back on their patch 5-1 by near London rivals Chelsea.

It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom, however, with West Ham potentially able to restore some of their damaged pride by picking up some last-minute purchases in the transfer window to try and push them out of their malaise.

West Ham keep tabs on £20m star

Potter will look to be busy between now and September’s approaching deadline, knowing this could be make or break for his job in the long run.

Reports from Spain are indicating that the basement club are in talks over landing Barcelona youngster Hector Fort on loan, on top of AS Monaco’s Soungoutou Magassa also being on their radar, albeit with Nottingham Forest and Atalanta being placed alongside them in the race for the £15m midfielder.

Away from those named, the forlorn Irons are also in the hunt for an experienced Premier League attacker who could be available for as cheap as £20m.

Indeed, a report from Caught Offside reveals that West Ham are keeping tabs on Raheem Sterling’s developing situation at Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea, with Beskitas allegedly in the lead for the 30-year-old’s services, as the Turkish titans plan to send a delegation out to London shortly to seal a deal.

Still, not all hope will be lost, considering Caught Offside also state that the Blues number seven might prefer a London stay over a switch to the Super Lig, with Fulham also keeping an eye on the unfolding situation, alongside Potter and Co.

How Sterling can become the next Antonio

Despite Sterling’s missteps at both Chelsea and Arsenal in recent years, he could be the boost West Ham desire up top, with Potter potentially picking up the Hammers’ next version of Michail Antonio in the process.

The Premier League’s early relegation favourites waved goodbye to a whole host of experienced faces this summer, as the likes of Aaron Cresswell and Lukasz Fabianski departed the London Stadium.

The casualty that looks to have hurt the Hammers instantly is the loss of Antonio, though, with the loyal 35-year-old servant allowed to leave the building on a free transfer this summer.

Off the back of this decision, West Ham have only been able to carve out one big chance during their opening two league defeats, leading to former goalkeeper Robert Green bemoaning the lack of leaders in the dressing room after the sobering Blues loss.

With the Jamaican’s 83-goal tally gone, the Hammers are clearly in dire need of another seasoned head to try and get more out of a limp attack, which is where Sterling could come to the rescue if he can bounce back from disappointing stints elsewhere in London.

It’s clear from the table above that Sterling can be a “world class” star on his day – as he was once lauded by ex-City teammate Frank Lampard – with a mammoth 174 goals up his sleeve playing for some of the Premier League’s elite clubs, with a further 124 assists also catching West Ham’s eye. Incredible, 123 of those goals have come in the top-flight.

The 82-time England international might not lead the line in the same imposing manner as Antonio, but his creativity and efforts down the right wing might just enable the Hammers to get out of some sticky situations and soar up the league, with the likes of Niclas Fullkrug perhaps able to put his shaky start to the campaign behind him, knowing he has the expertise of the 30-year-old by his side.

Further dubbed as “outstanding” by football pundit Paul Merson when showing off flashes of his excellence at Stamford Bridge, Sterling will hope he can show there’s life still in his legs at the London Stadium, much like Antonio did during the 2023/24 season with seven goals next to his name, before his unfortunate Hammers exit.

After all, Sterling’s former Three Lions boss in Gareth Southgate did once herald him as a “fighter”, with a hope he can become a bright spark for West Ham during some testing times, too, leading to a sharp rise up the table imminently.