Former West Ham United defender James Collins is still training at the club in a bid to earn a new contract from Manuel Pellegrini, according to The West Ham Way Podcast.
Respected West Ham insider ExWHUemployee reported on the podcast that the 35-year-old who was released by the club this summer, was still training at the club as he looks to convince Pellegrini that he’s worthy of a short term deal.
ExWHUemployee said [36: 44]: “He [Collins] absolutely loves the club. He does not want to leave, he’s desperate to play for us. He is a die hard West Ham fan now, lives in the area etc.
“He has been training at the club in the hope of obviously getting match fitness and in the hope of persuading Pellegrini to let him sign. There was talk of him being offered a six month contract which’ll take him to January, which will give him a contract with us as a back up defender, pay as you play basis.
“Pellegrini keeps saying that this isn’t going to happen but I think he’s going to keep trying to push it for as long as he can. But he’s got an offer from Brighton in the background which is a very good move. Brighton made a move for him last year and actually offered him two years and he turned it down in the hope of getting a West Ham contract.”
OPINION
This is an interesting one. West Ham invested heavily in the centre of their defence this summer, completing the purchases of Issa Diop from Toulouse and Fabian Balbuena from Corinthians. However, Winston Reid’s injury means that they remain somewhat short-staffed at the back. Angelo Ogbonna and Declan Rice can play there but beyond that there’s no one really. In that respect, throwing Collins a bone wouldn’t be too bad an idea. The Wales international knows the club well now, having spent two spells in East London, and is clearly desperate to continue wearing the claret and blue shirt. He won’t come in and transform the club’s struggling defence, but he would provide a measure of Premier League experience and reliability to the back line. However, it doesn’t sound like Pellegrini particularly fancies this deal, so it may not end up coming off. In that case Collins should move on and extend his top flight career with Brighton.
