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Chelsea transfer target Andy Carroll won't leave West Ham on loan in January, Alan Irvine confirms

West Ham assistant manager Alan Irvine expects Andy Carroll to still be at the club next month despite interest from Chelsea.

Standard Sport revealed yesterday that the Hammers would only consider selling Carroll on a permanent basis but that Chelsea wanted a loan deal that would not be countenanced at the London Stadium.

Both Javier Hernandez and Diafra Sakho are free to leave West Ham this month with David Moyes preferring to start Marko Arnautovic as a striker. A short-term exit for Carroll, though, will not be considered.

“I certainly hope Andy will be a player here at the end of the month,” Irvine said. “I don't think we have had any offers, in terms of taking him on loan, and I don't think the club would entertain him going out on loan.

“That does not help us and we need as much help as we can get between now and the end of the season, so I don't know why that would be attractive to the club if it was to come up.

“There has been a lot of talk about it, but not necessarily anybody doing anything about it.”

Carroll has scored twice in 12 Premier League appearances this season and has 32 goals in 128 games for the club since joining in 2012, initially on loan.

Though the 29-year-old has never been a consistent goalscorer he would fulfil Antonio Conte's desire for a target man to provide cover for Alvaro Morata. The Blues have also targeted Crystal Palace's Christian Benteke and Fernando Llorente before he joined Tottenham.