As Simone Zaza watched on from the stands whilst his teammates earned a draw against Liverpool, Football Italia reported that West Ham are prepared to take a hit and cut their losses on a £4 million loan fee to send Zaza back to Juventus to avoid paying a further £17 million to make the move permanent if he plays another six first team games for the club.
A return to Italy now seems highly likely for the striker, with AC Milan, Napoli and Valencia all possible destinations for the Juventus man despite his failure to adapt to the Premier League and life in London.
On the pitch, things were looking much better for Slaven Bilic and his team as they fought to a hard earned draw at Anfield, which Bilic says could propel his team up the table. He told the press:
“The players deserve a lot of credit, of course. We conceded an early goal so it was a bad start to the game for us, but after that in the first half we definitely showed a great reaction and were good on the ball and created chances. Of course we had to defend, but I’m really happy with the way we reacted after the goal… We got a point, which was a real achievement for us. We knew that after these four games we had a couple of games at home against Burnley and against Hull, which we have to win, basically. Hopefully we’re going to win them and while it isn’t going to change our season, it will help us move up the table and be in a much better situation.”
Goals from Dimitri Payet and Michail Antonio saw the Irons turnaround an early deficit after Adam Lallana’s early strike gave Hammers fans cause for concern, with Darren Randolph’s error gifting Divock Origi a second half equaliser.
Summer signing Alvaro Arbeloa was another to miss out on a return to his former club as he failed to make the 18 man squad, but the Spaniard spoke to deny speculation he could be leaving the club as he told the Guardian:
“I went almost two months without playing and [against Arsenal] I covered the most distance sprinting and in high intensity. But to really judge it, you need to play more, so I don’t know. I do know that I’m killing myself to change things; I haven’t just accepted it. And I’m not leaving. Sometimes you read things [in the papers] and think: ‘Do I say something? Do I ignore it?’ I feel like people were misinformed and all I can say is that I’m staying until the summer, no matter what. And no one from West Ham has told me to look for a team or anything.”
Arbeloa has been disappointing since signing on a free transfer in the summer and was singled out for criticism after his poor display against Arsenal last weekend.
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