West Ham news: Slaven Bilic says Diafra Sakho is injured after reports of row with manager after Andy Carroll return
Sakho missed last weekend's draw with Arsenal and will not feature against Manchester United on Wednesday
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Your support makes all the difference.West Ham striker Diafra Sakho faces an uncertain future at the club after a row with manager Slaven Bilic prompted him to walk out on the matchday squad for last weekend’s Premier League clash with Arsenal, all because he was dropped in favour of Andy Carroll.
Carroll went on to score a hat-trick that nearly gave the Hammers an incredible comeback victory, with the England international scoring twice in two minutes to eradicate Arsenal’s two-goal lead before half-time.
But Carroll’s inclusion in the starting line-up came with the notable absence of Sakho, and despite the club saying that the 26-year-old withdrew through injury, The Sun reports that Sakho was furious with losing his place and promptly left the squad.
Sakho will also miss West Ham’s FA Cup sixth round replay against Manchester United on Wednesday night, and it’s added that a row with Bilic about Carroll’s inclusion at his expense could pave the way to a summer exit.
Sakho arrived at Upton Park in 2014 and proved to be a shrewd signing after costing just £4.6m in a deal with Metz, with the Senegal striker scoring 18 goals in 45 appearances despite struggling with injury.
The pay rise received by Dimitri Payet, who saw his weekly wages increase by £50,000 just six months after joining the club, is said to have irked Sakho while he also wants Bilic to guarantee him first-team football despite Carroll’s return to form and his own injury-enforced absence that saw him miss three months after suffering a thigh injury that required surgery.
Bilic rejected the reports on Tuesday morning in a press conference and said that Sakho suffered the injury on Friday, and said that a scan has revealed he will miss a week, ruling him out of the FA Cup replay with United.
"The situation with Diafra is very simple," Bilic said. "He reported an injury after training on Friday. He was not in the squad.
"Yesterday he had a scan, which showed a little bit of a problem and he will be out for one week."
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