Zola expects battle for Gudjohnsen

30 July 2009 19:41
West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola knows he faces stiff competition to sign Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen but remains determined to bolster his attacking options before the start of the season. Gudjohnsen has expressed a desire to leave the Nou Camp due to a lack of first-team football and the 30-year-old will not be short of potential suitors. "Gudjohnsen is one of the players that has been linked with West Ham," Zola said. "He is one of those players that not only West Ham would be interested in." The Hammers will be hoping for some positive news in the transfer market after they were dealt a blow on Wednesday when Luis Boa Morte suffered a knee injury against Tottenham in the Barclays Asia Trophy which is likely to rule him out for the rest of the year. Zola is all too aware he needs to increase his attacking options following a rather placid display at Beijing Workers' Stadium, where they lost 1-0 to Spurs following Jermain Defoe's 75th-minute strike. And the Italian reiterated his desire to bring former Chelsea forward Gudjohnsen to the club. "We know we need to be more effective going forward and so we are looking for a striker," he added. "We don't know who it will be but hopefully someone will come." Boa Morte's injury is undoubtedly a setback to the Hammers' aspirations this coming season as they look to improve on their ninth-place finish last term. "Luis is still here with us (in Beijing) and will stay with us until the end and come back to England before visiting some specialists in London," said Zola. "The problem looks like it is confirmed to his right knee and we are talking about cruciate ligaments but we will see when we get back to London."

Source: Eurosport