New West Ham United manager Graham Potter has refused to be drawn on the prospect of bringing Republic of Ireland international Evan Ferguson to the club.
The Hammers' search for a new striker has intensified with Niclas Fullkrug facing a long spell on the sidelines.
The Germany international suffered a hamstring injury in the FA Cup defeat at Aston Villa on Friday in new boss Graham Potter's first match in charge.
"It's fair to say it's a significant one," said Potter. "Anybody watching the game, when a player pulls up like that you know that something fairly serious has happened.
"So it's still early in terms of full diagnosis I would suggest, but nevertheless a significant one, a number of weeks.
"Will it be months? A number of weeks probably adds up to months, yes. So yeah, I would say that."
The Hammers are already without captain Jarrod Bowen, who has a fractured foot, while fellow frontman Michail Antonio is recovering from the serious injuries he sustained in a car crash before Christmas. Danny Ings came on at Villa Park but the 32-year-old is short of match fitness.
Potter is an admirer of Ferguson, who is out of favour at his former club Brighton, while other reports have even linked the club Manchester United's Marcus Rashford.
On a potential loan move for 20-year-old Ferguson, Potter said: "He's a player, that's not a West Ham player, and until he's a West Ham player I won't speak about anybody.
"We've got enough good players here and they're my focus at the moment."
Potter has been stung by an over-ambitious transfer strategy before, however, when his previous club Chelsea splurged €300million in January 2023. He was sacked three months later.
So the 49-year-old is understandably cautious about bringing in new recruits just for the sake of it.
"I wouldn't say it's imperative," he added. "Obviously with the situation with Mich as well, there's certainly a logical rationale to do something, but again it's not quite as simple as that.
"So I wouldn't want to make the wrong decision or do something for the sake of it just because there's a need, especially in this window which is very complicated.
"But we've got some attacking options and there's players coming back as well, so my focus at the moment is on the team and on how to get the team to function as well as possible, with a view to being competitive and trying to win against Fulham."
