Friday 5 December 2014 17:32, UK
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has revealed he turned down the chance to sign Wilfried Bony and brought in Andy Carroll instead.
Allardyce was scouting Bony during his prolific run of form with Vitesse Arnhem in 2013 but a move never materialised after he was able to secure Carroll's signature from Liverpool on a permanent basis.
The Ivory Coast striker instead joined Swansea and has proved to be an astute buy, scoring 16 goals in his first Premier League season and another six in 12 games in 2014-15 ahead of Sunday's clash between the sides at Upton Park.
Allardyce said: "We signed Andy Carroll and it was one or the other.
"It couldn't be both and we ended up getting a deal done with Andy so our interest (in Bony) ended because we couldn't do both. We didn't have enough money in the budget that year.
"We spent big money on Andy and the rest had to be proportioned out for the considerable amount of other players we needed at the time."
Allardyce admits it has been tough trying to work out a plan to stop Bony, saying: "In the main it'll be about not only the defenders but the team as a whole stopping the supply.
We didn't have enough money in the budget that year.
"If you work hard on shutting down their midfield and wide areas and limit the supply then that is the best way forward but that won't happen all the time.
"When I say we have to get tight on him, we have to be aware of him without getting too tight because he is very strong and very skilful and to knock him off the ball is not an easy task.
"He seems to be able to roll a lot of defenders and hit the ball in the same movement. He is a threat in the air and it will be very interesting for our lads to compete against someone in such good goalscoring form and hopefully on the day we can keep him quiet."
Allardyce has plenty of forward options available this weekend, with leading scorer Diafra Sakho returning from a back injury, Enner Valencia nearing 100 per cent fitness and Carroll, who has been working his way back from a second lengthy injury absence.
"We're looking forward to having Diafra back, I'm not sure he's ready to start a match yet," he added.
"Having Enner back, Andy getting more and more match fitness; Carlton Cole and Mauro Zarate, our attacking options are the best we have ever had.
"There are a number of combinations we can now play to break down the opposition. It was nice to score two goals to come from behind at West Brom and it has put us all in a very confident mood having won two games in a short period of time.
"Game three coming up on Sunday is now a big test for the lads, can we make it a third one in the space of eight days? For us it is trying to maintain our results record and try and get more points on the board. If we can get three, what a great week that would be."
