Football fans want more; it's an intrinsic part of supporting a team, enjoying the highs and enduring the lows. There is certainly a sense at West Ham United that the reigning Europa Conference League champions could go to another level.
Seventh in the Premier League and preparing for a quarter-final clash in the Europa League against high-flying Bayer Leverkusen, David Moyes' job, on the surface level, is secure and his squad is in a good place, improved after impressive summer recruitment to combat the mammoth sale of Declan Rice.
But there's an unmissable ebb and flow to this team, and despite the success of forward-thinking players like Jarrod Bowen, Muhammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta, there's a lot to be desired in attacking play.
It's better than it once was. For. Sure. West Ham have suffered some testing times regarding forwards in recent years, with Albian Ajeti one of the biggest underperformers.
Why West Ham signed Albian Ajeti
West Ham completed the transfer of Switzerland international Ajeti for around £8m back in August 2019 in what looked to be a shrewd deal, the 22-year-old having scored 21 goals and supplied 11 assists in his homeland the previous campaign.
To say he fell by the wayside would be offensive to the term. Ajeti was awful, scoring and assisting nothing from 12 West Ham displays and being harangued for his "lazy" attitude by pundit Frank McAvennie.
He was signed during the same window as Sebastien Haller, who joined for a club-record £45m fee at the time, and while the Ivorian can only go down as a flop himself after scoring 14 goals and adding three assists across 54 matches, sold due to an unwillingness to adapt to Moyes' managerial style, Ajeti, who earned a pretty pay packet at £60k-per-week, is at the bottom of the barrel.
Matches played
9
Matches started
0
Minutes per game
17
Goals
0
Assists
0
Pass completion
80%
Touches per game
3.3
Shots per game
0.3
Key passes per game
0.2
Dribbles per game
0.0
Tackles per game
0.1
Duels won per game
0.2
Scottish Premiership giants Celtic swooped in to end Ajeti's Irons nightmare and secured his services for around £5m, saving West Ham from a severe loss, though the Swiss' £60k-per-week wages in England do underscore how abject an asset he was.
Ajeti's transfer valuation in 2024
Ajeti has not enjoyed much success since leaving West Ham, and while his football improved at Celtic, scoring nine goals from 48 appearances, the Basel-born player has never revived his goalscoring ability and has actually netted just 14 times since joining West Ham way back when.
As per Football Transfers' player valuation model, Ajeti is worth just £860k, which marks a staggering 89% depreciation. It's as if his short stay in London snipped the core of his talent, sent his career into a spin.
While Ajeti didn't cost the club too much during his short stint in east London, largely thanks to Celtic's ill-advised move, he dramatically failed to impress and joins a litany of misfires up front for West Ham, Haller very much included.
The fact that his market value has nosedived to its present lowly figure merely illustrates the fall of a once-promising prospect.
Market Movers
Football FanCast's Market Movers series explores the changing landscape of the modern transfer market. How much is your club's star player or biggest flop worth today?