West Ham boss Slaven Bilic hoping for late William Carvalho deal after surviving grilling by Hammers chief
Irons have told Sporting Lisbon to drop their £40million asking price to £5m or forget about any payment
SLAVEN BILIC is still trying to land Sporting Lisbon’s William Carvalho after surviving a grilling by West Ham co-owner David Sullivan.
But the Hammers have told Sporting to drop their £40million asking price by £5m or forget it.
Bilic’s side have started the season with three successive defeats and are bottom of the Premier League.
And a club insider warned: “He needs to start winning games and quickly.”
Croat Bilic will make one final push to get the defensive midfielder in a bid to stop the rot — but dealing with Carvalho’s club has proved tricky.
Sporting sent talks into a tailspin last week after hiking up the price for the 25-year-old Portugal international from £36m to £40m without any warning.
Hammers supremo Sullivan wants to back his manager but has seen a club-record offer in excess of £25m — plus £5m in add-ons — for Carvalho thrown back in his face.
The Londoners will try one last time to land the player before Thursday’s transfer deadline to try and lift morale with a fresh face in the dressing room.
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Bilic, 48, claims this mini-crisis will bring the best out of him as a manager as he fights to turn around results — and save his own skin.
West Ham have conceded ten goals already and their next game is in 13 days at home to surprise packages Huddersfield. The Terriers have hit the ground running in their debut top-flight season with two wins and a draw.
It will be the Hammers’ first home match of the campaign due to the World Athletics Championship.
And the pressure will be on after Saturday’s crushing 3-0 defeat at Newcastle.
Bilic said: “We have had three games and three defeats.
“Again, we conceded three goals so I feel pressure.
“We can say they were three away games but we have no points and we don’t look good.
“This is a job about good times and bad times and you have to show your quality as a manager more in the bad times.
“So we have to work very hard to come out of this situation. I’ve done it before and I have to do it again.
“There is no other thing to do than to work hard, to dig in and for us to show the quality we have on paper on the pitch.”
