Misfiring Montpellier star Adams "knows nothing" about West Ham's interest but keeps firing blanks

By Alessandro Schiavone at Stade Symphorien, Metz

Photo: Akor Adams' Instagram profile @akoradams

Metz 0-1 Montpellier

West Ham target Akor Adams who told Capital Football that he “knows nothing about the club’s interest” after the game, went a SEVENTH game without scoring as his side Montpellier stunned Metz 1-0 on their travels thanks to a headed goal by defender Maxime Estève.

The 23-year-old Nigerian centre-forward, who many like to compare to free-scoring countrymen Victor Osimhen and Victor Boniface is still the second-highest goalscorer in Ligue 1 with seven bangs to his name. Only Kylian Mbappe precedes him with 16 goals in 15 matches and is likely to be out of sight until May. But if the PSG star keeps banging in the goals for fun, for the Hammers target things took a turn for the worse. An impressive start to the campaign with seven goals in the opening nine fixtures is marred by as many consecutive blanks, an unease in front of goal and a body language that tells the whole story. This could partly spell good news for the David Moyes-managed east Londoners as a lower fee may be required to take him away from Stade de La Mosson next month. But at the same time, he looks a bit undercooked and not ready for Premier League purpose right now. And the Hammers desperately need goals, with Michail Antonio increasingly injury-prone and Danny Ings now a far cry from the player who once kept Premier League defenders awake at night. Likewise, Saïd Benrahma no longer appears to be in Moyes’ plans and for all his quality and growing technical leadership, Jarrod Bowen can’t get West Ham out of jail with crucial goals in every single game.

Yet the game in eastern France on Sunday exposed Adams’ deficits. He is a target man who thrives in the box. IF he get the service he needs, he can score with both feet, with his head, in the middle of the box or from angles and ranges which defy logic and mathematics. But if that’s not the case, he struggles. He is not really a team player. Against Metz it felt like Montpellier were down to 10 men as he barely had a touch of the ball in the opening 25 minutes. And making matters worse, he cocked up a pair of golden opportunities. He first latched on to a well-weighted through ball and despite having all the time in the world to chip or round Oukidja he decided to pull the trigger. And the Algerian disarmed the Nigerian again by coming off his line to prevent him from getting his shot away after being slipped in to his left. In the same opening 45 minutes, he played an excellent one-two with Teji Savanier, who pulled out wide before setting him up but Adams was too slow, allowing Oukidja to come out and to clear his lines. From a personal viewpoint he got battered 3-0 by Oukidja on the day.

Worryingly, if only a few months ago it was hard to stop by him by land, air and sea it’s now become too easy for defenders to keep him quiet. Low on confidence and lacking ingenuity to take his game to the next level (and maybe proper management as well), he should take a leaf out of Osimhen’s book to rediscover his shooting boots. But as things stand, he is a work in progress who would like have the same impact on English football as Southampton flop Paul Onuachu. That's why West Ham could do a lot worse than looking elsewhere. Or else they will find themselves with another Simone Zaza, Sebastian Haller and Jonathan Calleri on their hands.