West Ham round-up: Defoe discusses January rumours; Noble talks Payet; stadium request made

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After an impressive display last weekend against Crystal Palace, many Hammers fans will be wishing they had Jermain Defoe’s firepower back at the club after a January move for the former Tottenham man failed. Discussing, the speculation, Defoe told TalkSPORT:

“With the speculation about West Ham, it’s always nice when you’re wanted. But at the end of the day, I’ve been a part of this game for a long time and that’s part and parcel of it now. It was easy for me to see it and just think, ‘Okay, that’s nice people want me, but I’ve got to be focused on Sunderland’. I’m totally focused on scoring goals [for Sunderland]. I’m totally focused on helping this football club stay in the Premier League. For me, that’s the best way to approach it so I’m not distracted. I’ll just keep my head down and work hard.”

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The ex-England international may be considered again in the summer, but the club are likely to look for a younger alternative and have been pleased by the impact of Andy Carroll since his return from injury.

Instead, the biggest transfer story of the January window at the London Stadium was the departure of Dimitri Payet. Discussing the whole saga with Sky Sports, captain Mark Noble said:

“Obviously we were gutted. The manager, as you saw from his press conference, was obviously gutted as well. He had a massive impact on our team because he was a big player in the changing room. The players loved him and would do anything for him. It got a bit disjointed and it was a tough time for all of us. But it has become a happy place again. I think it was on the manager’s chest and mind. He didn’t want to get rid of Dimi, but he wanted to get rid of the situation. Obviously we had to deal with all of that and the best way to do that was by winning games, that’s what we’ve done.”

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Noble also denied rumours that Payet had been removed from a group chat between the players, saying he wasn’t taken out until after he had completed the £25 million move. With the Hammers now starting to find form again and Payet scoring his first goal since returning to the south of France last weekend, it seems to have worked out well for all parties.

Next season, the club will be forced to play their first three Premier League games away from home, claim football.london. An agreement in their contract for the stadium means that the World Athletics Championships will be held at the London Stadium from August 4th to August 13th, with the Premier League season set to kick off on August 12th.

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The removal and then replacement of retractable seating, which takes 15 days of 24-hour work at a cost of £8 million to the taxpayer, means that the club will ask for special dispensation as Liverpool did this season whilst part of Anfield was redeveloped.

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