Croatian coach of the Hammers thinks that the traditional London club can compete among the elite Premier League clubs, at least in terms of signing top players.
Hammers begin their Premier League campaign today playing at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea. Against West Ham will probably play Michy Batshuayi, Belgian striker who West Ham wanted to sign this summer, but he opted for Chelsea. Instead, Bilic brought André Ayew from Swansea for a record club amount of £ 20.5 million pounds.
Hammers manager feels that he can compete with clubs such as Chelsea. Potential players can see the prospectus and the future of the club for example in Europa League this season and in new Olympic stadium.
“I have said it openly, since the beginning of the transfer window, we tried to get one of the top strikers. Those, however, opted for a larger club and a higher salary, but in the end, we bought the necessary players and I am happy,” said Bilic.
Bilic, the chairman, and chief scout Tony Henry realized one thing – if they want to get the big players, they need to meet one of the two conditions – to submit a bid as soon as possible or offer a larger amount. Then, there is at least the theoretical chance that the player decides for West Ham. However, they did not do that.
Belgian striker Batshuayi came to England after a good season in Marseille where he scored 17 goals in last season. West Ham offered €35 million euros for him, unfortunately, Chelsea paid for 22-year-old player € 40 million euros. After that, West Ham bought the experienced striker Andre Ayew, the player Bilic considered capable of altering the course of the game.
However, the Hammers coach feels that the club already has a striker who is able to score 20 goals in a season. The team’s striker Andy Carroll, who is about to throw past season behind because of injuries and meet all the requirements. He will be the attack’s first choice and Bilic thinks he is able to score 20 goals which are expected of him. Whether the expectations are based on truth, we will find out tonight, when West Ham United plays against Chelsea.
source: skysports.com, foto: wikimedia.org