Wednesday 24 August 2016 17:52, UK
Slaven Bilic has confirmed West Ham's interest in forwards Wilfried Bony and Simone Zaza.
The Hammers are aiming to bolster their forward line before the close of the summer transfer window, with strikers Andre Ayew, Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho currently sidelined through injury.
Sky sources understand West Ham are keen to sign Bony on loan from Manchester City until January to alleviate their striking crisis, while Zaza's father has claimed his son has a "concrete offer" from the east London club.
Ivory Coast international Bony, 27, has scored six Premier League goals for Man City since moving from Swansea for around £25m in January 2015, while 25-year-old Zaza netted five times in Serie A for Juventus last season after a summer buy-back switch from Sassuolo and was part of Italy's Euro 2016 squad.
When asked about the duo, the West Ham manager said: "We have a couple of players we are trying to do a deal with. We have injuries and we are short of numbers.
"In terms of signings, if something good quality-wise comes up, we are going to act.
"We were linked with [Zaza] last year and he is a top player. We were in contact with him last year and will see what happens.
"We will not sign someone because we have to act now. The longest injury is Ayew Andre and we expect him to be fit in December.
"The other players should be back very soon. We have to be optimistic and we cannot moan about it. We will try to do something.
"[Bony] is also an option because he plays in the position we are looking for. I leave negotiations to the chairman and [head of recruitment] Tony Henry."
West Ham welcome reigning Romanian champions Astra Giurgiu to London Stadium on Thursday night for the second leg of their Europa League play-off, with the score level at 1-1.
Astra knocked West Ham out of the Europa League last season, defeating the Hammers 4-3 on aggregate, and Bilic has urged his side not to rest on their away goal.
"They are Romanian champions and the Euro finals this summer have shown it is about what the team can do on the pitch," he added.
"They beat us last year and it is not job done. We have had enough time to recover from Sunday and I am optimistic.
"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."
