West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has claimed that the club now have a transfer target in the form of Manchester City striker Wilfried Bony.
The Ivory Coast international is thought to be unhappy at Etihad stadium due to lack of first-team opportunities. He has never come close to replacing Sergio Aguero in the last 18 months at City. Bony had joined the former Premier League champions for close to £ 30 million. Even as he made the move, many expected him to spend much of the season on the bench and this proved to be the case.
At 27,Bony is now keen on getting back on the pitch on a regular basis. West Ham will be a club who can offer him exactly the situation even though they have a forward like Andy Carroll in the ranks. Bilic stated that it was imperative that West Ham had a player who can score 20 goals a season without being injured for most of the time. Even though Carroll has a good scoring record or at least contribute indirectly to the goals, his injury record has been very poor. The £ 15 million signing is likely to be looked down upon if a player likeBony arrives at the Olympic stadium.
“He is a good player. He is an option because he plays in the position where, even before the injuries, we tried to sign a player.We have a couple of players we are trying to do a deal with. We are not going to protect the away goal. It gives you an advantage but you cannot hang on for 90 minutes. We will play a normal game,” said the West Ham manager after the club’s 1-1 draw with Europa League qualifying opponent Astra Giurgiu. The second leg of the game will take place at the London stadium with the tie 1-1.