Moyes unaware of Carroll interest amid £30m Chelsea links

Oli Fisher

West Ham manager David Moyes has spoken out amid claims that striker Andy Carroll is set for a move to Chelsea this month.

The club have reportedly fielded interest from their London rivals and are prepared to listen to offers for the striker before the end of the January transfer window.

Carroll was not included in the squad on Tuesday as West Ham edged into the FA Cup fourth round after a 1-0 replay win over League One side Shrewsbury.

Shrewsbury held their Premier League opponents to a goalless draw in the opening match last week and thwarted them for another 90 minutes at the London Stadium before Reece Burke struck in extra time.

Moyes said Carroll was absent with an ankle injury and insisted he was not aware of any offer from Chelsea.

“They’ve not made contact with me. If they’ve made contact with someone else I don’t know about it,” Moyes said.

“Andy Carroll is part of my squad. I want to add to my squad, not lose anybody. There’s been a lot of rumours regarding a loan but as far as I know it’s not officially come from Chelsea.”

Asked if he had any indication Carroll wanted to leave West Ham, Moyes added: “No. At the moment Andy has an ankle injury.

“He had an injection around 10 days ago and we hope that will settle and he will be available again as soon as possible.”

Fellow striker Javier Hernandez, also linked with a move away from West Ham, was also left out of the squad to face Shrewsbury but again Moyes pointed to problems with fitness.

“Chicharito had the flu,” Moyes said.

“I’m not keen to lose any players at all. I’m more keen to add players to the squad. We didn’t have players sitting in the stand tonight because we thought we could do without them.”

Burke was among a youthful West Ham line-up and an upset could have been on the cards had Shrewsbury striker Stefan Payne not missed a one-on-one with Joe Hart in the second half of normal time.

“Cup ties are difficult, the expectation is on us to make all the running,” Moyes said.

“The expectation was too high and I knew with our team it was going to be touch and go.”

 

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