The Daily Star claim that Slaven Bilic could turn to Mauro Icardi as he continues to seek to add some much needed firepower to the West Ham frontline. Simone Zaza has failed to impress, and Bilic may instead opt to spend the money on wantaway Icardi after a massive fallout has seen him booed by his own supporters.
Icardi is one of Europe’s top young forwards and has been linked with the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea of late, but remains a controversial forward with the release of his autobiography just the latest chapter in a controversial career.
However, it seems that another man came close to moving from Serie A to the London Stadium after ex-Roma and now Marseille coach Rudy Garcia was reportedly approached by club bosses. When asked if West Ham were amongst the clubs to make him an offer, he told L’Equipe:
“Obviously. I studied everything. Whether the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga. I went where I was wanted the most. I had a lot of proposals… At all other clubs, I’d arrived as a replacement for a manager that had bad results. Here, this is not the case.”
The club responded, telling the Sunday Mirror:
“West Ham United categorically deny speaking to Rudi Garcia or any of his representatives.”
It seems unlikely that the club would make such an approach with Slaven Bilic still at the helm, but it’s more than possible that he was approached to see if he would be open to the move whilst Bilic struggled to find form.
After Saturday’s victory over Sunderland, match winner Winston Reid told the press:
“Now we need to pick up more points. We’d like to be up near the top of the table. We’ve got a young squad so it’s important that they don’t feel there is pressure on them, and a lot of us senior players have been talking about that. We’ve got a strong squad, we’ve got great belief and it’s nice to get back-to-back wins.”
The New Zealand international clearly believes that his squad and team mates have the quality to challenge their performances from last season, when they secured Europa League qualification, despite a disappointing start to this campaign.
Featured Image: All rights reserved by Serg Hoholok.