David Moyes can atone for the mistake of West Ham United not signing a striker to replace Sebastien Haller, by landing Southampton ace Danny Ings at the end of the season.

What’s the word?

According to ExWHUemployee, while speaking on The West Ham Way podcast, Ings features on a five-man shortlist of centre-forwards who the Hammers could potentially target in the summer.

Moyes is currently without senior back-up to Michail Antonio after failing to sign anyone to replace Haller in the mid-season transfer window, having sold the Ivory Coast international to AFC Ajax for £20m.

The Irons hierarchy had made the funds raised from Haller’s exit available for Moyes to strengthen his side, but the former Manchester United boss chose against spending as he will instead use the budget on a long-term option at the end of the season.

Moyes has plenty of candidates under consideration including Ings, plus Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard, Slavia Prague’s Abdallah Sima, Stade de Reims’ Boulaye Dia and Brentford’s Ivan Toney.

West Ham would be expected to face a lot of competition for Ings with his £75,000-per-week Saints contract currently set to expire in 18-months’ time, and reports claiming the 28-year-old is holding out on putting pen to paper on new terms.

Ings is alleged to want the south coast side to break their wage structure with the offer of a bumper new deal, having attracted interest from top-six Premier League clubs, which the St. Mary’s Stadium natives are presently unwilling to agree to.

The former Liverpool striker is also desperate to play in Europe and West Ham securing qualification for a UEFA competition, potentially at Southampton’s expense, would raise the chances of Ings moving to the London Stadium.

Should West Ham sign Ings?

Unlike the other four attacking candidates touted by ExWHUemployee, Ings is the only striker who Moyes is said to have his eye on that has a proven track record for scoring in the Premier League.

The £18m-rated marksman hit 11 goals in 35 top-flight games during his debut season in the division with Burnley in 2014/15 and, after two injury ravaged campaigns at Anfield, hit home seven in 24 games during an initial loan spell with Southampton.

He then fired 22 in 38 games last term to end the campaign just one goal shy of Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy in the race for the Golden Boot, and see Arsenal icon Martin Keown urge the north London outfit to sign the “outstanding” and “hard-working” attacker.

Ings may not have the same hit rate this season with 0.41 goals a game compared to 0.57 last term, but he is firmly in amongst the action most weeks and has an impressive tally for the campaign with seven thus far.

Moyes would greatly benefit from having another striker that capable at West Ham, where he had to rely on a Tomas Soucek brace and a header from Craig Dawson to beat Crystal Palace last month after a wasteful showing from Antonio at Selhurst Park.

The Irons boss has also seen former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor describe his decision to not sign a striker in the winter market as a “massive mistake”, as Moyes will now have to rely on Andriy Yarmolenko providing cover.

It would likely be another considerable error of judgment by Moyes if he now passes on any potential swoop for Ings, who would be more than expected of making the impact Haller could not in east London.

AND in other news, David Moyes can give a £3.5m-rated outcast a new lease of life at West Ham with one decision…