West Ham are steeling themselves for confirmation that Alex Song IS set to jet off to the Africa Cup of Nations after all.The u-turn is set to come as a massive blow to the east Londoners’ outside hopes of challenging for Europe. They currently sit seventh in the Premier League, four points off Southampton in fourth.
Song has not yet confirmed that he is set to leave for the tournament but he is understood currently to be in Cameroon holding talks with key figures within the country’s football federation, who do want him back.
MirrorFootball exclusively revealed last week that the nation was poised to stage a change of heart over the Hammers’ star midfielder, on loan from Barcelona.
Lions’ Head Coach Volker Finke left the Irons delighted before Christmas when he left the 27-year-old out of his squad for the competition which begins on January 17.
Song has been out of Finke’s plans since being sent off at the World Cup against Croatia last summer. He has impressed hugely since his summer move to West Ham, however, and Finke is understood to have been pressured by his country’s top brass into changing his mind.
Feelers were put out to Song two weeks ago and the player has responded favourably to his country reaching out.
It means, however, that he is set to miss West Ham’s upcoming Premier League games at Swansea and at home to Hull, along with their FA Cup Fourth Round tie should they make it past Everton tomorrow night.
Should Cameroon make it to the AFCON quarter-finals or beyond, Song will also be out of the massive League games against Liverpool and Manchester United.
West Ham are already set to lose Cheikhou Kouyate to Senegal while that country’s top-scorer Diafra Sakho is suffering from a back problem which means he will unavailable to the club even if he doesn’t join up with his national side.
irishmirror.ie
