THERE will be West Ham footballers heading for the transfer door in January, although Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano are unlikely to be among them.

Both manager Alan Pardew and new chairman Eggert Magnusson have registered their their desire to keep the Argentinian pair until at least the end of the season, but Pardew has admitted it may be necessary to offload players.

Teenager Mark Noble has already said he would be on the phone to Ipswich, where he enjoyed a succesful loan spell, should he fail to force his way into the side, while Carlton Cole's patience for bench-warming must surely be nearing an end, especially with West Ham's sixth front-man Dean Ashton returning from his long-term injury in the new year.

Pardew said: "We have a decent size squad because we were embarking on a European campaign.

"If one or two are feeling like there is no route to the first team then we'll have to sit down with those guys. Whether they go out on loan or whether they want to progress on to another club, that decision will be made."

Once bitten, twice shy, following the furore surrounding his early interest in then Crystal Palace striker Andy Johnson last season, Pardew is unwilling to name his transfer targets.

But Magnusson has already confirmed Shaun Wright-Phillips as a top priority, with Pards saying: "The right side of the pitch is certainly an area that needs to be addressed."

The manager also emphasised that it would be him making the decisions over playing personnel and not the chairman.

Meanwhile Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, the financial muscle behind Magnusson's takeover, is keen to keep an English core to the side.

He said: "I don't think the way to win is to go around the world buying players, that is not my idea of football and is not necessary. You have good players in England and you don't need to fill it with foreigners, I see players coming from the academy.

"Perhaps one or two foreigners, but the team spirit is what we are looking for.