Neil McDonald was guarded over claims West Ham are seeking to hijack a move for striker Kostas Mitroglu but admitted he “wouldn’t rule out anybody” joining the Hammers on deadline day.

The Olympiakos forward had looked poised to move to Fulham for a fee in the region of £12m but it has been reported the Irons are trying to sign the Greek to bolster their forward options in their quest to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

The Hammers assistant boss was standing in for Sam Allardyce – who is “on the phone all the time” – ahead of West Ham clash’s with Swansea City tomorrow.

McDonald labelled talk of Mitroglu joining the Hammers as “speculation” before adding with a smile: “Hijacking deals, eh, which is interesting.”

He continued: “As I say it’s all speculation. We’re still looking to try and improve. I think we’ve added to the squad excellent so far this window and if we can kept anyone else in it will be a bonus.

Pressed further on Mitroglu, McDonald said: “He’s a goalscorer, isn’t he. But we’ve got a goalscorer just coming back from injury in Andy Carroll, we’ve got a goalscorer in Carlton Cole who’s been popping them in over the last couple of months so that’s really, really good and the competition for places is getting much better with everyone coming back from injury.”

Asked if he would “rule out” the Greek moving to Upton Park, McDonald replied: “I wouldn’t rule out anybody.”

There have also been reports linking influential midfielder Mohamed Diame with a move away from Upton Park and McDonald remarked: “That’s a little bit of a surprise. He’s an important member of the team at the moment for us and we want all the important members to stay here to help us to fight and get out of the predicament we’re in at the moment so hopefully he won’t be going anywhere."