West Ham United co owner David Sullivan is blocking a new contract for Hammers manager Manuel Pellegrini, according to Football Insider.
The outlet claims that the Irons head honcho is instead set to employ his tried-and-tested tactic of waiting deep into the manager’s current deal before deciding on whether to sort an extension or not.
This is because Sullivan wants to avoid paying a big compensation payment were he to get rid of the Chilean if the team’s results were to worsen.
Indeed, the Hammers chief wants further evidence of the side’s improvement under the former Manchester City boss before he’s handed an extension on his £200,000-per-week deal.
OPINION
Clearly Sullivan isn’t quite in on Pellegrini yet, or at least not enough to make a big financial commitment to him at this time. The Chilean has done pretty well so far, but it’s worth remembering that the club have backed him massively in the transfer market and he’s not yet repaid that commitment. A 10th place Premier League finish last time out doesn’t really constitute meeting the owner’s ambitions, and so Pellegrini will have to do a lot better this time out, especially considering that the club spent big once again this summer on the likes of Pablo Fornals and Sebastien Haller. Mostly, though, this simply seems like Sullivan is trying to avoid having to give the manager a big payout were he to sack him. You can’t really blame him for that, but if Pellegrini sees it as a lack of faith and refuses a new deal because of it, then the supporters likely won’t be happy with the Hammers owner.
