West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has hinted the injury-hit Premier League club could make a move for Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony.
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The Hammers have made no secret of wanting to bring in further forward options, with new club-record signing Andre Ayew ruled out for up to four months having injured his thigh on his debut at Chelsea.
Speaking to the media ahead of West Ham’s Europa League playoff second leg against Romanian champions Astra Giurgiu tomorrow night, BIlic stated that the Ivory Coast worldwide was “an option” but stressed that he was not the one who handled negotiations.
“We were linked with him (Zaza) previous year and he is a top player”.
Bilic said: “He is a top player, I like the player”.
Bilic says Bacca is “on great money and wants to stay on that level”, but hopes West Ham can attract players of that quality in the future, with Bony an option.
“We have a couple of players we are trying to do a deal with”.
“With Andy and Andre, they are more long-term injuries”.
Andre Ayew did arrive from Swansea City for a club-record sum of £20m, but the Ghana worldwide was soon ruled out for four months due to injury.
“We have to be optimistic and can not moan about the situation because that does not help”.
The 19-year-old spent last season on loan with League One Bradford but played for the Hammers in last week’s Europa League play-off round first leg against Astra Giurgiu.
“They are Romanian champions and the Euro finals this summer have shown it is about what the team can do on the pitch”, he added. We will see if it does this year in the next few days. “I expect us to win”. We knew before everybody and were already watching all those players, ” he said. “It gives you an advantage but you can not hang on for 90 minutes”.
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Back in 2013-14, BBC listed Bony as one of the signings to watch out for.
