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Dear Old Carlton Cole, he of the famous 'smokin' head' post match interview, seems to have been smoking something else if his collaboration with Talk Sport is to be believed. The Hammers stalwart is quoted as saying why Ozil would be a good acquisition "West Ham have always liked those kind of players, those magician-like players. Arsenal would have benefited from having him in their squad, but he clearly doesn’t fit in at the moment.”

On what must be one of the rare occassions in a long managerial career, Hammers' boss David Moyes has an unusual dilema to resolve, namely how to keep everyone happy in a squad from which only 18 players can be involved on match days. Of course his squad is perilously short of numbers in certain areas, but he is able to select an incredibly impressive bench to support the starting eleven, and as all Hammers fans know, if there is an injury to be had, usually long term, then West Ham will be the most likely destination!

West Ham striker Michail Antonio is still waiting for his first cap for England but he has only been called up to the national team squad on two occasions. Former Hammers boss Sam Allardyce named Antonio in his squad for a World Cup qualifier against Slovakia in 2016, where he didn't make the bench. More recently, Antonio was also included in Gareth Southgate’s squad for games against Germany and Lithuania. Unfortunately, he was forced to pull out after picking up a hamstring injury.