David Moyes rules out West Ham signing William Carvalho or Joao Mario but admits squad is down to bare bones

Moyes also reiterated his desire to keep Javier Hernandez, his goalscorer against Bournemouth on Saturday, while Eddie Howe said the Cherries are unlikely to add to their current squad

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David Moyes has ruled out signing either of the talented Portuguese duo William Carvalho or Joao Mario in the January transfer window, but admitted his squad is severely depleted and said West Ham must instead focus on clearing up their lengthy injury list.

Manuel Lanzini injured his hamstring in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Bournemouth at the London Stadium and is set to join Andy Carroll, Winston Reid, Michail Antonio, Jose Fonte and Diafra Sakho on the sidelines.

Moyes said West Ham are looking to bring in additions but would not resort to “a lucky dip”, and ruled out moving for Sporting’s Carvalho – who the club tried to sign last summer – or bringing in Inter Milan’s Joao Mario on loan, contrary to recent reports.

“I don’t think so,” Moyes responded when asked about bringing in the two players. “I don’t think we will. I think one was possibly a loan and one would have been a transfer, but I think Sporting are top of the league at the moment so I would have to say that would be a no as far I’m concerned.”

Javier Hernandez came off the bench to score the Hammers’ equaliser having recently been linked with a move away from the London Stadium, and while Moyes could not make promises over the Mexican’s future, he reiterated his desire to keep the forward.

“Chicharito came on today and made a difference,” Moyes said. “He can do that. You can’t question the clubs he’s played for. You don’t play for Man United, Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen without being a good player. He’s a really good player. If we can get him the right service, the right ball into the box, he gets a little bit of confidence.

“Will he definitely stay? I’d like to think so, yeah. You could ask ‘Would Paul Pogba definitely stay?’ Well maybe if Real Madrid came in an offered £500m he wouldn’t. So I think money would always be the talker, but at the moment nobody’s made an offer.”

The weekend’s result extended West Ham’s unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions. Marko Arnautovic has been particularly impressive in recent weeks, with five goals and four assists in his last six appearances, and Moyes believes there is no forward in better form.

Moyes praised Marko Arnautovic's recent form (AFP/Getty Images)

“We’ve got so much powerful threat up front at the moment. We’ve got arguably the best forward in form – I know there’s others who you could probably mention – but I think he’s as good as anybody there is at the moment."

The match marked Eddie Howe’s 100th Premier League match as a manager. Howe admitted he never believed he would get this far when he took permanent control of Bournemouth’s first team, nine years ago last week.

“I didn’t think 100 games in the Premier League would be possible for me early in my management career when I was in League Two,” said Howe. “I feel like a veteran. I feel tired and exhausted but it’s a great league to be involved in. To get 100 games is a nice personal milestone but it won’t mean anything if we don’t achieve what we need to this season.”

Eddie Howe reached 100 Premier League games (Getty Images)

Hernandez’s goal meant Bournemouth still have not kept a clean sheet since the goalless draw with the Premier League’s bottom club, Swansea City, in November. But pressed on whether the club would look to reinforce in defence, Howe declared faith in his current players and ruled out any January signings.

“I don’t think we’ll be looking to outside to help us,” he said.