West Ham in crisis as preparations for Sunday’s trip to Wolves in tatters
David Moyes will be forced to manage the team remotely after testing positive for coronavirus along with two players while owner David Sullivan has had his say on transfers
It comes after David Moyes and two players, Josh Cullen and Issa Diop, tested positive for coronavirus before their Carabao Cup win over Hull City but it is a major disruption to their preparations for Sunday’s trip to Wolves.
The whole squad were forced to undergo a fresh round of tests today while a deep clean was done at the training ground and stadium to stop fears of the outbreak spreading.
They will have to self isolate for ten days, provide a negative test before they can return, although it is understood Moyes does not feel ill or unwell and wants to take a “hands-on” role in preparing the team even if it will be done remotely.
That comes on top of a difficult summer and co-owner David Sullivan has admitted they may not be able to make any more signings.
Fans are still upset at their transfer business after captain Mark Noble voiced his anger and frustration on social media at the sale of young forward Grady Diangana to West Brom.
The hope was that the sale would raise extra funds as they have been chasing Burnley defender James Tarkowski but now they are struggling to bring players in and the loss of centre half Diop for two games will only pile on the misery.
“He wants to bring players in who will improve the team. We have a number of bids in for a number of players.
“Teams don’t want to lose them, these are key players with decent sized clubs, obviously outside the UK, and they don’t want to lose them so it’s difficult.”
West Ham are chasing Saint-Etienne centre back Wesley Fofana and they will need reinforcements to bolster the squad after losing their first two Premier League games against Newcastle and Arsenal.
Premier League chiefs are confident that West Ham’s game with Wolves will go ahead despite Moyes, Cullen and Diop testing positive and the bizarre circumstances surrounding their late withdrawal.
West Ham carried out tests on Monday, the results only came back at 6.20pm on Tuesday by which time all three were at the stadium and immediately went into an isolation room despite all three being asymptomatic.
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They all went home in their own cars, have all been retested to ensure none were “false positives” and the whole squad had a day off on Wednesday which was already pre-planned.
But they have all now undergone a new round of tests and West Ham United Head of Medical Richard Collinge insists they have dealt with it in line with Premier League protocols to ensure there is no further outbreak.