Slaven Bilic refuses to panic buy as clock ticks on West Ham’s search for a striker
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic insists he is not panicking over the club’s chronic striker shortage despite having just one week left to sign attacking reinforcements.
Bilic, whose side face Astra Giurgiu in the Europa League on Thursday night, is keen on Manchester City’s Wilfried Bony and Simone Zaza of Juventus, but faces competition from Napoli.
The Hammers lost Andre Ayew to injury just days after his record £20m transfer from Swansea, while regular centre-forward Andy Carroll could be sidelined until October.
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“We are not going to sign someone just because we have to act now,” said Bilic, who added he would not rest players against Astra with West Ham needing a win to reach the group stage.
“The longest injury we have is Ayew and we expect him to be fit by 1 December. It is not tomorrow but that time will pass. Carroll, [Dimitri] Payet, [Manuel] Lanzini will all be back very soon.
“We have to be optimistic and cannot moan about the situation because that does not help. We will do something if we can in the next few days, without panicking and that is exactly what we are doing.”