Is Demba Ba worth taking a chance on?

The Mirror is today linking us with a move for relegated West Ham United striker Demba Ba.

Apparently the player has a clause in his contract that will allow him to leave The Hammers on a free transfer if the team ended up being relegated. Well that has happened so I'm assuming the clause, if it exists, will be activated, although I personally question why the presence of this clause hasn't come to light earlier.

Demba Ba scored 7 league goals in 12 league appearances for a struggling West Ham side last season so he has shown that he can find the back of the net in the Premier League which is a characteristic that our team are lacking at the moment. If you take his career statistics into account you will see that he has scored 74 league goals in 147 league appearances. A goal every two games is not to be sniffed at.

It's not all sweetness and light though with regard to the Senegalese striker. Demba Ba has medical issues that have raised concern throughout his career and the player has had several moves break down due to medical exams picking up issues with his knees. Stoke are the most recent example of this but he also failed a medical when trying to join Stuttgart back in 2007.

So there is a huge element of risk involved with the player in question. On one hand he can score goals and wouldn't cost a penny in transfer fees, but on the other hand none of that would matter if his knee suddenly went and we couldn't play him regardless. Knowing Newcastle and the rate that our players seem to pick up injuries leaves me wondering whether we should bother with him.

The other problem is that if we did sign Demba Ba I get the feeling it would be a feeling of 'job done' with regard to recruiting strikers. We'll probably try and get two, and we may well get two, but if one of our first choice strikers is out for an extended period then we are pretty much back to square one. Don't get me wrong, I understand players get injured and that it can't be helped at times, but why chase a player that has had the red flag numerous times throughout his career? It's asking for trouble in my opinion.

Mind you, there might not be any truth in the rumours - it is The Mirror after all! However this is the type of deal that I can see us going for so it wouldn't surprise me if there was some truth in it.

Would you take a chance on Demba Ba?