OPINION
West Ham defender Winston Reid posted a wonderfully heartfelt goodbye message to James Collins but the 29-year-old needs to get himself back focused on his recovery.
The enforcer, who currently earns £70,000-a-week as stated by Spotrac, must dry his eyes quickly over Collins leaving the club as his future at the Hammers is in jeopardy.
Reid took to his personal Instagram to share a brief message about Collins, who the Hammers confirmed via their official website on Thursday would be exiting the club when his contract expires on 30 June.
While it was a beautiful gesture, Reid can’t afford to waste time dwelling on his friend’s exit as he needs to prove to Manuel Pellegrini that he is worth keeping around at the London Stadium.
The 29-year-old enforcer had a disappointing campaign during the recently concluded season, as he hardly impressed in the 18 league games he did feature in.
Reid also had to deal with several injury problems that kept him from regularly playing as much as he would have liked, with his season prematurely ending in March, as reported by Sky Sports, after he suffered a knee injury.
Given the fact the defender still doesn’t have a concrete return date, he already faces an uphill battle making a positive impression on his new Hammers boss, as others will make their case ahead of him.
The Daily Star previously stated in April that under David Moyes, Reid was clearly on borrowed time at the club and that wouldn’t have changed simply due to a new manager taking the dugout.
As the Scottish manager clearly just wanted to build the best team at the club and he wasn’t aiming to chuck the centre-back out the door on a whim.
Therefore Reid must quickly dry his eyes over his popular teammate exiting the club and get back fighting fit as soon as possible to ensure he doesn’t follow Collins out the door at the next possible opportunity.
