Noble urges West Ham to strengthen

Mark Noble has urged West Ham to bolster their squad with some key additions in the transfer market, but fears they could be priced out.

The Hammers’ first season at London Stadium was an inconsistent one, with Slaven Bilic eventually guiding them to 11th place.

Bilic has since moved to bring in Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta, but Noble, who is recovering from a hernia operation, is eager to see further reinforcements arrive.

“I think we need to get a few in. I’m sure the chairman is working tirelessly to get them in, but this market is so hard,” he told Sky Sports.

“Players are so expensive now and you get priced out. We’re competing with so many other teams to get the players we want.”

Zabaleta’s signing proved a popular one with supporters and Noble is also a fan of the Argentina international.

“He’s an all-round good fella,” said the midfielder. “It’s going to be a change for him because he’s used to having the ball for 70 or 80 per cent of the game.

“I’ve spoken to him on text already and he’s really keen to meet the lads in pre-season.”

On the issue of his own fitness, which hampered his playing time during the 2016-17 campaign, Noble added: “I knew I had the hernias February time and me and the physios took it on ourselves not to say anything until the club was safe.

“It kept getting worse and worse and I went to see the surgeon before the Spurs game [May 5, his final game of the season] and he said ‘it’s urgent now, you need to have an operation’.

“Then we beat Spurs and were mathematically safe so it all worked out well.”