West Ham in talks to sign former Man City striker Valeri Bojinov

We could almost descend into a “Whatever happened to….” type article, but if Sam Allardyce gets his way, Valeri Bojinov could be set to remind the Premier League that he is still a striker to take seriously.

With the West Ham manager still keen to bolster his injury-hit front-line, he has opened the door to signing the former Manchester City man.

The 28-year-old is a free agent having seen out a six-month contract at Levski Sofia, a spell which saw him net six goals in 14 appearances.

And with his career seemingly hitting the buffers, a move to east London could be just the ticket for a man who was so highly thought of, when he became the youngest non-Italian to play and score in Serie A.

A £6m move to Manchester City in the summer of 2007 signalled the start of his downfall, albeit with a fair share of bad luck thrown in.

Just three games into his career with the Citizens, a knee ligament injury put paid to most of his season, before finding it tough to break back into Sven-Gorann Erikkson’s plans at Eastlands.

Several loan moves around Italy and a spell at Sporting Lisbon failed to produce anything of note for the 42-capped forward, before returning to his homeland in January this year.

It would certainly be a risk for West Ham to sign a player who has made just 135 appearances for seven different clubs in eight years.

And with his injury-prone nature, a move to bring him to the Boleyn could spell disaster for Allardyce.

With the pressure already on the former-Bolton boss at Upton Park, any questionable signings that fail to deliver will only add more fuel to the fire for his dismissal.

The Hammers were clipped into 3/1 (from 5/1) for relegation after their opening day defeat to Tottenham, and will be nervously looking over their shoulders even at this early stage.

A trip to Selhurst Park is next up for the Irons, for which they are priced up at 21/10 to take all three points as they look to get off the mark for the campaign.

All odds and markets correct as of the date of publishing

Fancy a flutter? Sign up today to claim up to£100 in free bets.