West Ham manager Slaven Bilic says he believes the return of the likes of Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho to fitness ahead of this weekend’s match against Tottenham at White Hart Lane will feel like new signings.
Carroll has been sidelined with a knee injury since August but despite returning to training, he will not feature against Spurs. Sakho however is available but has not featured at all this season after taking time to recover from a chronic back injury which halted his move to West Bromwich Albion in the summer.
With the Hammers struggling for goals in the striker department, Bilic is quoted by the Mirror as saying he is delighted by their return:
“I know we have solutions within our squad. We have players who were absent who are now coming back. They’re like new signings for us.”
The return of two forwards to first team action will however not stop West Ham making moves in January. Both Simone Zaza and Jonathan Calleri look likely to have their loan spells cut short, making room in the squad for potential replacements with both Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge and Watford’s Troy Deeney being two targets reported to be on the Hammers’ radar in recent days.
