More bad news on the injury front. Andy Carroll is out for three months following an operation on his fractured ankle, while it's reported that Manuel Lanzini could miss four to six weeks with his hamstring injury and Arnautovic is out for three weeks with a hamstring problem. We're down to Hernandez up front, while West Ham urgently need a replacement for Lanzini, as there's no-one at the club who can play the number ten role. Not replacing Payet, sold a year ago, has made the situation even worse.
One solution might be David Moyes' pursuit of Lyon midfielder Clement Grenier, who is not a prolific scorer but can play the creator role. Though knowing West Ham we might sign Paul Clement the former Swansea manager by mistake. Lanzini's injury could be a chance for Ayew to play behind the main striker, but he's always looked more of a winger or striker than a midfielder (and without an injury crisis he would surely have gone back to Swansea after a reported £14m bid).
The rest of the squad is over-stocked with defensive midfielders, though Kouyate did play better in a more advanced role on Saturday and Antonio would be a boost if he was ever fit, though again his injury sounds serious. Another four wins are needed for survival and action needs to be taken in the transfer window now.
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