Injury crisis forces Bilic and West Ham to look at Man City outcast
Published:
West Ham’s first ever Premier League game at the Olympic Stadium proved to be a successful one, but despite the 1-0 win over Bournemouth, the Hammers are desperately short of firepower up front. One man touted as a potential fix is Manchester City’s Wilfried Bony.
The Hammers are without Andy Carroll, Diafra Sakho and Andre Ayew through injury, and no fewer than seven first-team players are currently queuing up to see the physio.
With time running out before the transfer window closes, boss Slaven Bilic will have to make a move soon if he is to shore up the east Londoners’ front-line.
Having chased a number of big-name centre forwards this summer, including Christian Benteke and Alexandre Lacazette, Bony could now prove to be the strongest remaining available options.
The Ivory Coast striker is highly unlikely to feature under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, so first team football will only happen elsewhere.
Swansea remain in contention to welcome back their former striker, but with the buzz of a new home, plus a potential campaign in Europe, the striker may prefer a move to the capital.
That’s without mentioning Dimitri Payet, whose magical talents Bony and in turn, the Hammers could really benefit from.
The Hammers will certainly have a stronger position at the negotiation table if they can bag a spot in the Europa League group stages.
Bilic’s men welcome Romanian side Astra Giurgiu to London on Thursday, and must edge out their opponents after drawing the first leg 1-1.
Odds of a home win at 2/5 suggest the Iron should be looking forward to Friday’s group stage draw.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
