Sam Allardyce has revealed that he considered bringing Wilfried Bony to West Ham United before signing Andy Carroll.
Carroll became the Hammers' £16m club-record buy in the summer of 2013 - when Bony moved from Dutch club Vitesse to Swansea City for a similar fee.
The Swans visit Upton Park in the Premier League on Sunday, and Allardyce is wary that his decision not to pursue the in-form striker may come back to haunt him.
He told reporters: "It was a case of one or the other. We couldn't do both with the budget we had."
"It'll be very difficult to contain him because he's in such good form," he added. "We'll have to limit the supply into him from the midfield and wide men.
"We need to get tight to him but not too tight because he can roll defenders well, he's strong and very skilful. To try and knock him off the ball is not an easy task. It'll be a good test for our lads to play against a player who's in such good form."
Carroll has scored just twice in 20 games since joining West Ham permanently, having been hampered by a series of injuries, while sought-after Bony has netted 31 times in 64 appearances for Swansea.
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