West Ham are set to be withut four first teamers when the African Nations Cup Finals open in January.
The Hammers could be without Andre Ayew, Cheik Kouyate, Diafra Sakho and Sofiane Feghouli who could be called up by Ghana, Seegal and Algeria respectively.
And as a result of the competition there is zero chance of the Irons going into the African market for new signings as they look to beef up the squad for the second half of the season.
The club has some worries given their experiences with Sakho last time that the player remains fit as the claim has been that he suffered complications to a back injury under the hands of Senegal masseuses during the last tournament.
ClaretandHugh was told this morning: “It’s taken an eternity to get him right and we want no more issues with injuries but there’s a worry given the circumstances last time.
Our targets this time in partcular are a right back and striker but there’s no point in looking at the African market.”