West Ham manager Sam Allardyce today ruled out any more transfer business before the window closes unless there is a departure from his squad.
Allardyce (above) signed Roger Johnson on loan earlier this month and added experienced Italian pair Antonio Nocerino and Marco Borriello at the weekend.
The transfer window closes on Friday night and the West Ham boss admitted it was unlikely that any more new faces would arrive at Upton Park despite being linked with a further bid for Leeds striker Ross McCormack after an initial £3million offer was rejected.
“Our two new signings take the number up to our 25 squad limit so unless anybody leaves in the next four days, I don’t see us doing anymore business,” said Allardyce.
Speaking about his new arrivals from Serie A, who both trained with the club for the first time today, Allardyce said: “We managed to find Antonio on the back of Michael Essien going to AC Milan from Chelsea.
“He is very excited about playing in the Premier League and he wants to get into the Italy squad for the World Cup finals. Marco hasn’t played that much in the last six weeks but he is a lively striker who can score goals which is what we need.”
West Ham go to Chelsea on Wednesday and Allardyce hinted that Nocerino could be in his squad but that Borriello was likely to need more time to gain match fitness. West Ham are in the relegation zone and could be cut further adrift after the match.
Chelsea have never lost in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho — a run of matches stretching back 71 games.
Despite that formidable record, Allardyce has taken encouragement from fellow strugglers West Brom, who would have won at Chelsea in November were it not for a controversial last- minute penalty.
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The West Ham boss added: “Jose seems to have made Chelsea very difficult to break down again and that frees up their quality players to make an impact. West Brom should have beaten Chelsea earlier in the season though so if we play to our best we can get a good end result.”
Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis has hit back at newspaper claims that he could walk away from the club.
Pulis, who took over from caretaker boss Keith Millen in November and has since overseen five wins and a draw in 11 matches as Palace moved out of the bottom three, was said to be considering quitting due to the club’s inability to secure transfer targets this month.
He told the South London Press: “It sells papers. I’ve never done that before and I’m not going to do that now. It is a lot of nonsense. I came here to do a job and I want to get that job done.”
Palace, who have been linked with a string of players but are yet to sign anyone during the window, face a Hull City side at home tomorrow night who boast new strikers Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic, signed for a combined £14m.
