Evening news round-up for Tuesday 13/12/16 by 337hammer.

West Ham plot move for French striker after Liverpool scout him out.

Providing he does not lose West Ham’s next two home games against Burnley and Hull, Bilic looks set to survive as manager. And plans are already being made for recruitment in January, with Frenchman Defrel emerging as a major target.

The 25-year-old French star is under contract at the Serie A club until 2020, but both Liverpool and West Ham have had scouts watching the former Parma and Cesena striker, who could cost as much as £20million. Defrel joined Sassuolo in the summer of 2015 and has scored seven goals for the club this season. express.co.uk

Loan star Burke returns to West Ham.

Loan star Reece Burke has returned to his parent club West Ham to try to get to the bottom of his niggling hip problem. Burke was back in the Latics starting side at the weekend after missing the previous game against Derby.

But he was only unable to negotiate 45 minutes before being forced to quit the action, to be replaced during the interval by Jordi Gomez. The 20-year-old is now back in the capital to be assessed by the West Ham medics, before a decision is made on what to do next. wigantoday.net

A shame that Reece has an injury. We now have to see whether we recall him permanently as was rumoured.

Payet named in world’s top 20.

Dimitri Payet has been voted the joint-17th best player in the world by European journalists in the 2016 France Football Ballon d’Or. The West Ham United and France attacking midfielder has enjoyed a sensational year for Club and country, scoring 17 goals and recording 23 assists in 56 appearances. whufc.com

Nice for Dimitri to be thought of so highly, now he needs to be consistent and give us some more good performances for the rest of this season.

Alan Dzagoev agent says Everton and West Ham among interested clubs.

The agent of CSKA Moscow playmaker Alan Dzagoev has told Russian newspaper Sport Express that Everton and West Ham are among “a number” of Premier League clubs interested in him.

Agent Anton Astafiev said: “We’d been in touch with them in the summer, but unfortunately Alan was injured right before the Euros. “Now the talks are on again and we are negotiating with representatives of these clubs.” Astafiev said he “will soon know if it’s Everton, West Ham or a club from a different league,” adding that “a top Chinese club” were also interested. But he said: “His only priority is Europe. I think things will become clearer in the near future. espnfc.co.uk

West Ham midfielder Gökhan Töre’s injury could block return to Turkey.

Rumours circulating online had suggested Bilic was starting to lose patience with Töre, considering that the winger, who has 26 senior appearances for Turkey, had not hit the ground running as planned since joining the club back in July 2016. It is now understood that Töre’s current knee injury is worse than expected and that should the damaged cartilage in his knee not improve anytime soon, the chances of Beşiktaş taking Töre back early is limited, meaning West Ham will be stuck with him until the end of the season.

Although nothing has yet been confirmed by the player or either club, reports in Europe believe that there also seems to be a worry that Töre’s injury could be career-threatening if not dealt with correctly. essexlive.news

As ex stated yesterday in his column, this could prove a major stumbling block in us sending him back to Turkey. And another  injury to one of our players!

Slaven Bilic says Burnley clash is must-win  as he admits Simone Zaza’s future is still up in the air.

‘We need to beat Burnley,’ Bilic said. ‘We need points, we have a huge respect for them. ‘We’ve been waiting for these couple of games. We’ve been talking about tough games for four games running. Spurs, Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool is very difficult on paper and we were hoping to get something out of them. ‘We were waiting to get through that period. It’s come now. We are thinking about Burnley and have a good chance and have to show our determination, quality and determination together. ‘We have to beat them.’

Simone Zaza was not in the squad at Liverpool and instead was believed to be in Turin to watch parent club Juventus play Torino. It led to speculation that his season-long loan deal could be cut short. Bilic said the striker was not dropped because he was actually injured. ‘He’s our player but got injured before Liverpool,’ Bilic said. ‘He felt something in his knee. He is not in the squad or available. We don’t know what will happen in the future.’ dailymail.co.uk

Yes Slaven, we have to beat them. And other teams too. Do you think we will beat Burnley? And Slaven says Zaza is injured as well. Do you think he is? Or is this just a rouse to ensure he can be sent back to Juventus or whatever other club he might end up at?

Bilic: West Ham playmaker was in my office for talks on Monday.

Slaven Bilic has reassured fans that West Ham playmaker Dimitri Payet is fully focused on playing for the club following showdown talks in his office on Monday. Speaking ahead of his side’s Premier League clash against Burnley, Bilic revealed, as quoted by West Ham’s official Twitter account, that Payet is concentrating solely on the rest of the Hammers 2016-17 campaign. “I spoke to Payet in my office on Monday and he is only thinking about our season,” Bilic declared. “He is fully focused on the next few games.”

Payet, who was shortlisted among the 30 contenders to win the Ballon d’Or this year, has been rumoured to leave after the Hammers woeful start to the Premier League season. footballinsider247.com

I wonder why Bilic felt the need to release this information! It seems a strange comment to make to me. What do you think?

Kouyate back for Burnley game.

Slaven Bilic has been given a major lift ahead of the Burnley game on Wednesday night after revealing that Cheikhou Kouyate will return to the squad after he was forced to miss the last two matches with a hamstring injury. Kouyate picked up the injury on the eve of the London derby against Arsenal and the injury forced him to miss the 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Sunday.

But the Senegal international resumed training on Monday and the Hammers manager confirmed he would be available for selection if he doesn’t suffer any reaction in the final training session at London Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. Bilic said: “He trained normally on Monday with all the guys. He looked alright and looks fit for tomorrow. We have training and if nothing unusual happens he is alright. “He’s a very important player for us and has showed that since he joined the club. When he doesn’t play it is a big blow. He’s that kind of player.” whufc.com

Great news that Cheik is back in contention. Would you put him back in the team? Where would you play him? Would you play with a back 5 / 3 in our next game or stick with the 4 at the back that we started with at Liverpool?

Slaven Bilic reveals plan for injury-plagued star Andy Carroll ahead of West Ham v Burnley.

“We will decide on Wednesday,” said the Hammers boss. “He came on twice from the bench, now we need to decide whether to use him from the bench or from the start. “We have two very important games and we have to manage our players to be available in both.

“We are not afraid to start him but we have to think twice on how to manage him. “We can’t look only at Wednesday’s game, but we have to look at the bigger picture.” dailystar.co.uk

To me, it seems we should use Andy while we can. It is inevitable that he will break down again at some point, be it in a match or training. As much as I like him as a player (if the team is set up correctly around him to provide support and not leave him isolated), I’m afraid that given his previous fitness record, it is only a matter of time before he is out injured again. What do you think? Should he start or would you prefer Ayew or Fletcher to get the nod with Andy to come on as an impact sub as a second forward?