West Ham United centre back Winston Reid is 100% fit and was left out against Fulham last Saturday because he was being rested, according to Claret & Hugh.
The reliable Hammers news source claims that the New Zealand international remains at full fitness, despite fears from supporters that he had suffered a reoccurrence of the injury that saw him miss the entirety of last season.
However, the 31-year-old, on a reported £70,000-per-week at the London Stadium [Source: Spotrac], was only being rested, with manager Manuel Pellegrini wary of rushing him back too soon.
Having said that, the veteran is said to be in line for some more game time against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
OPINION
This is a sensible approach from the West Ham boss. Pellegrini is well aware that Reid has missed over a year of football, and so that’s not something that you can just come back from and jump into playing regular football again willy-nilly. Yes, it’s only pre season, but you have to be sensible with these things. Reid has been out for a long, long, LONG time. He needs to be manoeuvred back into the fold with patience and care. Pellegrini knows that and is determined not to send the player straight back to the medical room he has only just emerged from. Especially when it’s just pre season, the reward isn’t worth the risk here. The Chilean has Fabian Balbuena, Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna and even Declan Rice who can come in and play centre back, so it’s easy enough for him to give Reid a rest at this stage. That’s the approach he took against the Cottagers, and you’d have to say it was probably the right one.
