There’s a murmur that the most hotly anticipated contract signing of the season may be about to take place. The Daily Star are reporting that defender Winston Reid is on the verge of extending his contract with West Ham United until 2019 – a signing that would be a fantastic piece of business for the Hammers.
Reid’s current contract is set to expire in summer 2015, and negotiations towards a new contract have so far been unsuccessful. Reportedly, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United have been interested in acquiring the New Zealand international, and Reid seems to have been keeping his options open.
He has played a game of “will-he-won’t-he” up until now, and his future has been a popular question asked of Sam Allardyce in recent interviews. Sam has recently said that the lack of agreement regarding Reid’s contract is “not that he doesn’t want to stay,” which was always a good sign, admittedly, and continued on to say that the hold up has been in regards to “financial remuneration and whether they can come to the right level, give or take or negotiation that gets us to a point where he will say ‘yes.’”
It’s good to hear that the board have been actively convincing the centre-back to stay, and even better news that Winston may be about to commit to his future at Upton Park. If the news of the imminent contract is true, I would expect that it was not just negotiation, but also the current form of the club that played a role in convincing Reid to stay.
Currently, West Ham are deservedly sitting in a position which would allow them to play European football next year. It remains to be seen whether we will still be there come May, but there is potential to be there and it is within our reach. The club is going places; and I’d be surprised to see Reid leave for Liverpool or Man United – teams who, at the time of writing are below us in the league and losing some shocking games.
He has a guaranteed starting position at West Ham, and has captained the team on occasion (with David Gold suggesting on twitter that his reluctance to sign a new contract has led to other candidates replacing Kevin Nolan as skipper in recent games) – and I don’t know that Reid would want to leave Upton Park for a team (currently) lower in the league, and where his playing time isn’t guaranteed.
I’m firmly hoping the news of this contract extension is true. Winston Reid is a valuable player for West Ham, and although this is a year where we made some tremendous signings – Enner Valencia, Diafra Sakho, and Cheikhou Kouyate to name a few – if we can tie Reid into a new contract, that signature might be our most valuable one yet.
What do you make of the Daily Star article? Are you hoping to keep Reid a Hammer, and is staying with West Ham the best decision for his career?
Absolutely no doubt that we must keep him . With a decent partner we would be formidable at the back . If he goes we have 2 fringe players who are not good enough for top level .
James Collins has probably been our best centre back this season.
if we can’t keep Reid, we need two very good centre backs, which we should be able to afford for the price of one Reid. No brainer, really…
over rated, sell and buy a naturally skilled player for which reid is not
At this current time I think the three centre backs we have in place is perfect. For the rest of this season at least, its important that Tomkins, Reid and Collins are in the squad as they rotate well if injuries arise. They can all work with each other which is important. It looks as if Reid has considered carefully and will sign a new contract which is great news. We should all be enjoying the good times at the moment. COYI!
Sign him now!!!!!!!