- Slaven Bilic says Club are determined to keep hold of Dimitri Payet
- Manager reveals Carroll and Sakho are approaching imminent first-team returns
- Part Two of exclusive interview will appear on whufc.com on Wednesday evening
In Part One of our exclusive interview with Slaven Bilic, the Hammers manager talks about the future of Dimitri Payet and has positive news surrounding the return of influential forwards Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll.
Payet's future has dominated a number of headlines following his amazing exploits for France at the European Championship Finals during the summer when he was one of the star performers at the tournament.
After being nominated for the Ballon d'Or Award, Payet is now hoping to have another successful campaign with the Hammers and help the team move towards the top half of the table.
Joint-Chairman David Sullivan stated on Monday that he hopes to see Payet stay at West Ham for many years to come and Bilic says they are thrilled to have him at the east London Club.
Bilic said: “The Chairman came out and said during the Euros (that he was staying) when the speculation started.
“We are delighted to have him and he is our player. We want him to stay as our player.
“It would help us a lot if he could score another big goal against Tottenham on Saturday!”
We are delighted to have him and he is our player. We want him to stay as our player.
Slaven Bilic
Bilic will be hoping to see his side get back on the winning trail at White Hart Lane following disappointing results against Everton and Stoke in the last two games.
The Hammers boss is thrilled to see Sakho back in contention for the big London derby after he was forced to miss the start of the season with a back problem.
The Senegal forward has worked hard to regain full fitness and Bilic hopes he can regain the form which saw him play such a crucial role in the Club's success last season.
Bilic added: “We are delighted that he is back. We have been missing him since the start of pre-season so it has been a very long period, but he is back now.
“He started doing rehabilitation treatment, then he did individual training on the pitch and then he spent a week with the U23s.
“He has been training with us since the Stoke game and looks good. He might need a few games to find his top form but some hit it straight away like Aaron Cresswell did when he came back.
“We rate Diafra very highly because he gives you something different. He runs deep and is really good at running behind the defences and opens the spaces for other players to run into that zone. It is a big boost for us to have him back.”
Bilic also has good news surrounding the comeback of fellow forward Carroll who is also close to making a first-team return.
“Andy is progressing really well and maybe in a couple of weeks he will be able to train with us – it might even be earlier.
“It looks very good and if he continues to progress then I am expecting to have him back soon.
“We have been missing so many players and now they are all coming back. It is great for them to come back at such a crucial period and for us to have as many players as possible.”
Supporters should visit whufc.com on Wednesday evening to check out Part Two of Slaven Bilic's exclusive interview!