West Ham United co-chairman David Sullivan has insisted that the club has not given up on signing Alex Song again from Barcelona this summer.
Sullivan told the Hammers' website that they are keen on retaining Song's services and are hoping that he can return to the form he showed in the first half of last season while on loan.
Yesterday the East London club secured their first signing since the arrival of Slaven Bilic as manager with the capture of Spain Under-21 international Pedro Obiang.
"I can assure you we have not given up on Alex Song yet," said Sullivan. "Before Christmas Alex was outstanding and if we believe we can get him back to that sort of form and maybe with a new manager we can, we would very much like Alex to come."
"We are very thin on the ground with midfielders. You do get injuries and you need back-up. We have got Europe and other games that we want to win."
West Ham will begin their Europa League campaign in early July after finishing top of the Premier League's Fair Play league.
Pascal Lemesre
