Slaven Bilic could be handed a boost in future seasons as the Africa Cup of Nations is set to be revamped.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have proposed moving the tournament to the summer instead of the British winter, switching it to outside of the regular Premier League season, as well as expanding their biannual tournament to 24 teams.
West Ham lost both Cheikhou Kouyate and Andre Ayew to the competition in January and February of this year and would have lost Diafra Sakho too if he hadn't been injured to Senegal and Ghana respectively.
The next tournament is scheduled to take place between January 12 and February 3 in 2019 in Cameroon.
"From a sporting perspective, it will allow more opportunity for footballers across the continent,” said Nigerian Football Federation president Amaju Pinnock, who is also a CAF executive committee member. “It will increase revenue for CAF and we can triple our income. It will also force more infrastructure development.”
A decision could be made within the next 48 hours on whether the tournament will be moved or not.