West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola has indicated he could compensate for the loss of injured striker Carlton Cole by signing Luca Toni of Bayern Munich.
England striker Cole picked up a knee injury in the 5-3 win over Burnley at Upton Park last weekend but will not require surgery.
Zola revealed he does not expect his World Cup hopeful to make a competitive return until the end of the first month of 2010.
Asked whether Cole would be out until the end of January, Zola, speaking ahead of Saturday’s Premier League visit of champions Manchester United, replied: “It might be like that. We don’t know exactly, it depends how his knee reacts.
“We are talking about weeks not months. We will take it day by day.”
The Italian increased speculation he could beef up his strike-force in the upcoming transfer window by confirming his admiration for targetman Toni, who is out of favour with the Bundesliga giants.
“He (Toni) is a player who has got experience, has scored goals and has presence in the box, and he might be good for us,” added the former Italy forward.
“There is speculation but I don’t like talking about players that aren’t here. I’d rather talk about how I can face the situation with the players I’ve got.”
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