Charlie Austin a 'bargain' for Southampton, says Slaven Bilic
Friday 5 February 2016 12:20, UK
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic admits Southampton's £4m signing of striker Charlie Austin in January is a bargain.
West Ham were reportedly among a host of clubs interested in signing the striker in the summer but were put off by Queen Park Rangers' £15m asking price.
Bilic opted to sign Dimitri Payet, Manuel Lanzini and Michail Antonio, while Southampton snapped up Austin for a cut-price £4m last month.
The 26-year-old made an immediate impact on his debut, scoring the winner against Manchester United at Old Trafford, and could make his first start at St Mary's when Saints entertain the Hammers on Saturday.
"He's a great player," said Bilic. "He has proved himself - he's not one of those who has only done it in the Championship. He did it last year in the Premier League, scoring many goals for a team who were relegated, so for that money he should be a great buy.
"To add to that he scored the winner at Old Trafford in his first game, so it's a flying start for him. It was a bit of a surprise that he went for that kind of money. In England that is a small transfer.
"He would definitely be a player with quality enough to play for West Ham, and for most teams in the Premier League.
"But we had different targets, we have really good strikers and we were looking for different type of players. That is the reason (we didn't try to buy him), not his quality."
While West Ham need to keep an eye on Austin at one end, they also have to find a way past Fraser Forster at the other.
The goalkeeper has yet to concede since returning from a long-term injury last month, keeping four clean sheets as Saints racked up three wins and a goalless draw at Arsenal on Tuesday night.
"He [Forster] is flying," added Bilic. "Since he came back after injury they didn't concede a goal, so you can only imagine how confident he is, and how confident the defence and the whole team is.
"It's a difficult time to play them, and a challenge for us, but we have answered all our challenges really well so far.
"We have respect for them and the way they are playing, but also we are very confident."
