West Ham United’s record signing Andre Ayew requires surgery to fix a thigh problem and will be out of action for four months, according to the son of the club’s joint owner David Sullivan.
Ayew, West Ham’s new star man signed at a cost of £20.5million from Swansea this summer, was forced off injured in the first half of his competitive debut against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Monday.
The talented forward’s departure was a blow to the Hammers as they went down to a 2-1 defeat to Antonio Conte’s side. West Ham boss Slaven Bilic said on Wednesday Ayew would be out for a few weeks, but Jack Sullivan has revealed the Ghanaian’s time on the sidelines is expected to be much longer. ‘We are devastated that Ayew will be out for about 4 month. He needs a surgery,’ he wrote on Twitter.
Ayew, 26, suffered his injury as he chased down Chelsea’s Eden Hazard in his team’s first game of the new Premier League campaign.
The former Marseille man received treatment on the pitch before limping off. He was replaced by another summer signing in Gokhan Tore.
West Ham face Astra Giurgiu in a Europa League qualifier on Thursday and ahead of that game, Bilic was coy on the state of Ayew’s injury.
He said: ‘We will wait to get the results on Andre and hopefully it is not that bad. It will be weeks and not days unfortunately.’
Should Ayew be ruled out for the first four months of the season it would undoubtedly represent a huge blow to Bilic and the Hammers.
Having paid a club record fee to bring Ayew up the M4, the capital club invested heavily in a man who was the starring light for Swansea last term.
His absence would leave the Hammers short of attacking options despite the arrival of young Argentine striker Jonathan Calleri on a season-long loan from Uruguayan club Deportivo Maldonado this week.
It would mean Bilic would likely step into the transfer market once again with just a matter of weeks before the window slams shut.
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