David Moyes is set to discover the fate of one of his summer signings as Maxwel Cornet returns to West Ham first team picture in an unknown condition.
As reported by Hammers News last week, Cornet posted a video showing what appears to be the West Ham star doing advanced rehabilitation work after his rare calf issue.
The case of Cornet is somewhat typical of West Ham’s rotten luck with new signings and injuries.
Striker signing Danny Ings getting injured less than 24 hours after being unveiled by the club being the latest example of that “West Ham curse”.
When West Ham’s £17.5m summer signing Cornet was forced off just 35 minutes into his first Premier League start under Moyes at the beginning of October with a calf injury, it was expected he would be back in a week or two.
But, nearly four months on, the Ivory Coast star has not been seen in claret and blue since.
The Hammers could really do with Cornet’s pace, powerful running and energy in a side seriously lacking all those things.
Well the wait, it seems, is over but uncertainty prevails – for the time being at least.
Moyes is set to discover the fate of the star as Cornet returns to the West Ham first team picture in an unknown condition this week.
Speaking ahead of Monday night’s FA Cup clash at Derby, Moyes revealed Cornet will be back in the first team mix this week.
But the Scot conceded he has no idea – yet – what condition the Ivory Coast international will be in and how long he will need before being available for action.
Moyes did however suggest that he will not be available for two weeks at the very least given the length of time he has been out.
“Cornet has been back in France seeing the specialist for probably three or four weeks now and we’re hoping to have him back here on Monday and we’ll see where he is come Monday,” Moyes said in his pre-match press conference.
“It would be great (if he is ready to return to full training) but I don’t know if he’s going to walk in the building, get his gear on and go out and train right away. I’m not sure, to be honest, but the fact of the matter is we’re hoping he’s going to be very close to that.
“But even then, I probably need a couple of weeks’ training before we’re even getting close, so that’s the problem with it.”
It understandably irritates fans when the return of an injured player is likened to having a “new signing” – especially when it is around the transfer window.
But in Cornet’s case it really will be given his lack of starts prior to that injury.
It is a welcome boost with key stars Kurt Zouma, Gianluca Scamacca and Ings all on the sidelines.
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