West Ham boss Slaven Bilic shrugs off HMRC raid as he has more concerns over Andy Carroll's fitness

  • West Ham's training ground and stadium were raided by HMRC on Wednesday
  • Slaven Bilic chose distance himself from the investigation in his press duties
  • The Irons boss was more concerned that Andy Carroll will miss the trip to Stoke 

It was business as usual for Slaven Bilic at West Ham's Rush Green training complex with no imminent threat of another raid from HM Revenue and Customs – and still the same injury concerns.

HMRC officials had swooped on the London Stadium and training ground on Wednesday morning as part of an investigation into suspected tax fraud in football.

And while Bilic chose to distance himself from such matters, familiarity etched his tone of voice with the news Andy Carroll would likely miss the Hammers' trip to Stoke City on Saturday.

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic distanced himself from the investigation into suspected tax fraud

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic distanced himself from the investigation into suspected tax fraud

Andy Carroll would likely miss the Hammers' trip to Stoke but Mark Noble may return

Andy Carroll would likely miss the Hammers' trip to Stoke but Mark Noble may return

Officials were seen at West Ham's London Stadium at around 8am on Wednesday morning

The former Newcastle striker, another club at the forefront of this Anglo-French investigation, missed West Ham's goalless draw with Everton last weekend with a recurrence of groin injury picked up against Sunderland, impacting his return.


Bilic, who had expected his star frontman to feature at the Bet365 Stadium, now doesn't expect the 28-year-old to be available until their meeting with Tottenham early next month.

Asked whether Carroll would be fit, Bilic replied: 'Not for this game. I expected him to be back for this game against Stoke but he should be for the next game against Spurs, he should be ok.'

Bilic now doesn't expect the 28-year-old to be available until their meeting with Tottenham

Bilic now doesn't expect the 28-year-old to be available until their meeting with Tottenham

While West Ham must contend without the influential striker, they will be boosted by captain Mark Noble's return from suspension.

'We have got Mark Noble back from suspension,' Bilic continued.

'We had a few knocks from the game and we will see in training. The players were off yesterday but Mark is definitely back in the squad.'