The summer is seemingly always a stressful time for a West Ham fan. After nine months of torment through the season the anger switches its focus from those on the pitch to those behind the scenes as fans wait on a big name signing.

Each transfer window the powers that be in east London are accused of either doing and saying to much or, as is the case this time around, saying and doing far too little, even if the season is still a month away.

However, there will need to be activity at London Stadium this summer if the Hammers are to improve on their woeful maiden season at their new home, and it seems to be kicking into gear with reports last week suggesting Slaven Bilic is leading the race to sign Burnley striker Andre Gray.

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The Coratian manager is looking to add pace to his side over the coming weeks and the £8.5m-rated forward certainly brings that with him, but is he good enough to make the step up?

In order to find out what West Ham fans think we ran a poll asking whether Hammers fans would be keen on the 26-year-old and, while the results were close, they were slightly in favour of him making the move.

Given that the former Brentford man has spent just the one season in the Premier League, we decided to dig a little deeper and consider exactly what could be making West Ham fans back the deal.

Here are three potential reasons the London Stadium faithful are keen on Gray...

Proven

West Ham's biggest problem last season was the squad they started with. The Hammers made 13 summer signings this time last year, but very few of them already had Premier League experience under their belt.

While Gray only has nine top flight goals to his name he is a proven talent in the Premier League, which is more than can be said for the majority of last summer's arrivals - with strikers Jonathan Calerri and Simone Zaza flopping magnificently.

Desperation

This is no slight on the Burnley forward's talent or potential, but quite frankly West Ham fans are desperate to see a striker arrive. After the failings of last season and with both Andy Carroll and Andre Ayew missing large parts of the campaign through injury, they are reaching breaking point. Most West Ham fans would be chuffed with any forward of half-decent quality arriving this summer and Gray certainly falls into that bracket.

Offers an alternative

When Andy Carroll is fit Bilic has at his disposal one of the most difficult centre-forwards to deal with in the Premier League, a menace to opposition back fours and a reliable goal-scorer. However, given that he is all but guaranteed to miss more than half the season, another option is needed.

Aside from the former Liverpool man there is no other real out-and-out striker in the West Ham ranks. Andre Ayew did well when called upon last season although he has a tendency to drop into the support role positions rather than lead the line.

Gray would be a comfortable option as a talisman and offers a different approach to Carroll, one which fits with the styles of both Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini.