Slaven Bilic may well be running out of time to turn things around at West Ham.
Rewind a few months back, and the Croatian was expecting to be rewarded with a new deal having overseen huge progress in East London.
Yet, with the Hammers now fourth-bottom in the Premier League, he’s already considering how he can strengthen in January – that’s presuming he’s still in charge then.
The Mirror have it that the club are eyeing Cesc Fabregas on loan from Chelsea, especially as the Blues are reportedly happy to subsidise his £160,000 a week wages.
Antonio Conte could be left a little short in central midfield if Fabregas does go, as Jon Obi Mikel is not being offered a new contract, so he’ll be off in the summer too.
It’s clear Roman Abramovich wants Conte to give his squad a good clear out before he buys, though.
In that vein, the Guardian are reporting that Branislav Ivanovic could also be on his way to the London Stadium. Bilic has clearly latched onto the fact that Chelsea are doing so well, so he’s hoping that will rub off on his side by basically taking their hand-me-downs. Let’s see how that works out.
Ivanovic no longer looks like Premier League quality despite his illustrious career with the Blues, but Fabregas could still have something to offer.
If Dimitri Payet does leave in the next transfer window, West Ham will need another midfielder who can create. Payet and Fabregas are far from like-for-like, but Bilic could launch a pre-emptive strike by bringing in the Spaniard nonetheless.
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