Hammer blow for Parker as Curbs bids £12m for Anelka

West Ham's new midfield signing Scott Parker faces a fight to be fit for the start of the Premiership season in just over two weeks time.

Parker, who missed last night's 3-2 pre-season friendly defeat at MK Dons, damaged a knee on West Ham's tour of Austria last week and will have intensive treatment before West Ham's opening match of the season at home to Sven Goran Eriksson's Manchester City.

Manager Alan Curbishley could dip into the market to compensate, with a bid for Newcastle's Kieron Dyer a distinct possibility, while in attack Sportsmail revealed the club have made a move for Bolton striker Nicolas Anelka.

The Hammers have tabled a £12m offer worth £90,000-a-week to the Frenchman as Curbishley looks for the spearhead to propel their attack in the coming campaign.

While the West Ham boss has not made any public statements about Anelka, he was more vocal on the subject of Dyer.

"I've heard he wants to leave the club," said Curbishley. "We've been linked with a number of players and he's been one of them. "We still want to strengthen the squad. I'm looking in all areas but there are not many clubs who are making players available."

Another of West Ham's new arrivals, former Arsenal winger Freddie Ljungberg, did make his debut at MK Dons impressive new home, or stadium:mk as it is called.

The Swedish international, who signed a three-year deal two days ago, played for almost 70 minutes before being replaced by one of West Ham's youngsters, Tony Stokes.

Ljungberg made a quiet, uneventful start for his new club while central defender Matthew Upson, who has been plagued by injury ever since his move from Birmingham in the January transfer window, also played his first full 90 minutes for West Ham.

"It was a disappointing result and I was also disappointed with our passing, some of the chances we missed, the penalty we conceded but hopefully we can get all those things out of our system in pre-season," said Curbishley.