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Hammers manager Manuel Pellegrini has to perform a balancing act as he takes his team to the FA Cup 4th round tie against AFC Wimbledon, mindful of Tuesday evening's Premier League fixture away against Wolves which is a Europa League six pointer, he has to field a strong team tonight but without risking over using those players who have just emerged from a frenzied Christmas and New Year program.

With less than a week to go before the European transfer window closes events are starting to accelerate as Hammers iron out their policy with regards to their strikers, ironically most fans assumed that Marko Arnoutovic will be the big name departure from the club during this window, however it appears nothing can be further from the truth.

During the January transfer window, this one has a countdown on the right hand side of the site, fans generally feela mixture of hope and fear, more trepidation than anticipation. The Arnoutovic story has 'blown' most other strories about West Ham out of the picture, but 'stuff' is still going on, most notably the situation regarding Javier Hernandez, Hammers highest paid player.

Having had his head turned by a lucrative offer from China that has now been withdrawn, Marko Arnoutovic's future at West Ham is up in the air. Hammers vastly experienced manager Manuel Pellegrini has stated that 'Arnie' was not selected for the Bournemouth debacle because his head wasn't in the right place, which is a very polite way of saying his head is stuck up his back side!

Sooner or later a catastrophic injury list and a lead player going AWOL was always going to impact on West Ham United sooner or later, in fact Hammers achievements of late have been nothing short of miraculous given the circumstances but this was another game too far for Manuel Pellegrini's beleagured squad. To have so many first team players missing through injury was bad enough, but to then have Marko Arnoutovic go 'all peacock' was the straw that broke a most resolute camel's back!

Bournemouth: Boruc, Clyne, Smith, Ake, Cook, Lerma, Gosling, Brooks, Fraser, King, Wilson. Subs: Begovic, Surman, Mousset, Daniels, Stanislas, Rico, Simpson.
West Ham: Fabianski, Cresswell, Zabaleta, Diop, Ogbonna, Rice, Noble, Nasri, Anderson, Antonio, Carroll. Subs: Adrian, Snodgrass, Obiang, Hernandez, Masuaku, Silva, Diangana.

During a time of 'delicate' negotiations regarding the on off transfer of Marko Arnoutovic, West Ham United's director of football Mario Husillos and co-owner David Sullivan, who act alongside Manuel Pellegrini, will have been less than pleased with Michail Antonio's "‘everyone knows" Marko wants to leave comments recently made to Sky TV.

Fans are used to rumours and counter rumours during the January transfer window, things peak on the last day, Big Jim White vacates his role at Talksport and assumes his customary role as the Sky Sports transfer deadline day commentator.

The UEFA Champions League is hurtling towards the knockout stages, with the usual suspects jockeying for position as they get set for the cut-and-thrust of knockout football to begin. Manchester City can be seen as the current betting favourites in the Champions League winner odds to win the competition, with Barcelona and Juventus in close pursuit.

Never one to be short of an opinion or a story, Zlatan Ibramimovic took time out from criticising Cristiano Ronaldo for suggesting Lionel Messi should move to Italy for a new challenge, by suggesting that 'Zlatan', as he likes to call himself in the 3rd person, might well make a surprise return to the Premier League in a short term loan capacity with a 'big club' in London.