Slaven Bilic remains in the hunt for Jermain Defoe after West Ham United had an opening offer for their former player rejected by Sunderland.
Bilic once again sang the praises of the 11-goal striker who started his career at West Ham, though the manager refused to comment on reports the club will be making another bid for the 34-year-old. Bilic also confirmed that he has scouted Brentford’s striker Scott Hogan, but said that the Italian forward Simone Zaza’s “story at the club is over”.
“It was on television,” Bilic said of West Ham’s £6m bid for Defoe. “But we’re not going to discuss players that are not ours. The whole club is trying really hard to get some players in positions that we need. But I’m not going to talk here in public.
“He has the things that are most important in a football game and that’s goals. Last season he was probably the main reason Sunderland stayed up and he has continued to play the same way this season. Each game he is not only scoring goals but creating chances and most of the chances he’s converting into goals.”
It is understood that West Ham are preparing a bid of an initial £9m for Hogan, who has scored 14 goals in the Championship so far this season in a struggling Brentford side, but Bilic said: “He’s a good player. I’ve watched him a few times. Again he is scoring goals, he’s very sharp, very quick and a very good finisher. He does it in the championship. But once again, Hogan is not on our roster.”
As for Zaza, the Italian international has been a conspicuous failure since arriving in the summer. But a clause in his contract means that West Ham would be obliged to buy him permanently if he played more than 10 league games for the club and Bilic confirmed he would not be used by the club again.
“We wanted him at West Ham and he wanted to come, but because of his contract I can say his story with us is finished”, Bilic said. “He is still our player until the moment he goes somewhere but mainly it’s the circumstance with his contract. He’s definitely a good player and we had big expectations but it just wasn’t to be.”
