West Ham manager Slaven Bilic reveals he personally called Demba Ba in a bid to sign him as striker rejoins Besiktas on loan

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Slaven Bilic has called time on West Ham's search for a striker after personally calling Demba Ba in a bid to sign him.

Hammers boss Bilic says he is now happy with the forwards at his disposal, despite his club chasing hitmen for much of this month.

That included a surprise bid to bring back Ba. But Ba told Bilic he wouldn't be fully fit to return from a broken leg until March.

Demba Ba rejoined Besiktas on loan from Shanghai Shenhua on Tuesday

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic told the media that he attempted to sign the striker

The former West Ham, Newcastle and Chelsea striker has now rejoined Besiktas on loan from Shanghai Shenhua.

The 31-year-old returns to the club he left in 2015 to join Shenhua and will attempt to rebuild his career after a period in which it was feared injury may force him to retire. 

Scott Hogan, meanwhile, is still being pursued by Crystal Palace and Aston Villa after West Ham pulled out.

On Ba, Bilic revealed: 'I spoke with him on the phone a couple of weeks ago. The problem is he was very badly injured and he told me that he would be fit in March — that's too late for us.

'He is a player who proved himself in the Premier League, that I have managed, and we had a wonderful year together at Besiktas. He's a top player and I want him back on the pitch as soon as possible.'

West Ham cooled their interest in Hogan despite the 24-year-old Brentford striker being unsettled by their on-going interest throughout the January window. 

Ba (2nd left) is now headed back to Besiktas, where he spent the 2014-15 season

The Hammers also passed on signing Brentford striker Scott Hogan

Bilic vetoed the deal and will wait until the summer to find the star striker he has been searching for for over a year now. 

'He (Hogan) is a good player — we watched him in many games but we have good strikers now in our squad and that's the reason why I didn't want that deal,' Bilic said.

'He's great player, young, at that age scoring goals in the Championship. It's not a question of 'is he good enough', it's a question of what we have in the squad.

'We have Andy Carroll, (Michail) Antonio, (Ashley) Fletcher, (Jonathan) Calleri, we have some players who can play second striker too. They have to stay fit, that's the reason behind my decision.

'That's it, we're done. At least with the players that are going to come to us, we're done. We are quite happy with what we have, the board, the club, we have really good players in the positions that we needed.' 

Dimitri Payet sealed a £25million return move to Marseille this week after a long-drawn saga

Fletcher and Calleri, both linked with moves away this month, will stay at the London Stadium. 

Meanwhile Bilic says he won't be waiting on an apology from Dimitri Payet.

West Ham sold Payet for £25million on Sunday and on Monday he said he felt no need to justify his behaviour — which included refusing to play or train with the Hammers.

'Players are moving and I'm not going that deep into what he should say or shouldn't,' Bilic said. 'He is gone and he went home — that's his wish.

'I will not forget how good he was for us. He was brilliant. I was so happy and proud with my team my staff to help him achieve. What he achieved with us was a great story for West Ham, the Premier League and France and I ain't going to forget it just because he moved.

'I really wish him well.'