• David Sullivan: club have offers in ‘for three or four strikers’ • Hugo Almeida and Samuel Eto’o among names reported

The West Ham United joint-chairman David Sullivan has revealed that the club have made a number of offers for strikers as they target cover for the injury-enforced absence of Andy Carroll.

Stoke City’s Peter Crouch is the Hammers’ main target, but reports state that interest has also been shown in Hugo Almeida of Besiktas, while the former Chelsea forward Samuel Eto’o has also been linked with a move to Upton Park.

Carroll has been ruled out until November after sustaining an ankle injury during the pre-season tour to New Zealand.

“We’ve got offers in for three or four strikers – one in England, three abroad – and we just hope to land one of them,” Sullivan told the club’s official website.

“We do need to sign another player. We have worked 24/7 all summer and we still want to get at least one more striker in. It’s been very, very tough. We’re pleased with the players we’ve got – players with massive potential for the future – but we know there aren’t enough goals in the team at the moment.

“Pre-season hasn’t gone quite as planned. The worst thing is that we picked up injuries, in particular to Andy Carroll who is out for four months and makes a huge difference to us.”

Enner Valencia and Mauro Zárate are the key names among the six new arrivals at West Ham this summer, but the £13m Ecuador striker Valencia is expected to miss the start of the season as he works on his fitness.