Evening Standard
·20 April 2023
Evening Standard
·20 April 2023
W
est Ham are yet to open talks with any of their out-of-contract players amid uncertainty over the club’s Premier League status.
The Hammers are currently four points clear of the relegation zone and, such are the contrasting outcomes still on the table for this season, they could either be planning for a year in the Championship next term or another European campaign - or even both.
Lukasz Fabianski, Manuel Lanzini and Angelo Ogbonna are all into the final months of their existing deals, which are due to expire this summer, but manager David Moyes confirmed their futures are yet to be resolved.
“We’ve been solely concerned with our league positions,” the Scot said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get some things done shortly.”
Of the trio, Lanzini is almost certain to leave. The club have an option to extend the 30-year-old’s contract, but he has not started a League game since the opening day of the season and is looking to move on to revive his career.
Fabianski signed a one-year extension last summer, but that deal includes the option for another 12 months and the goalkeeper, who turned 38 this week, remains Moyes’s No1 in the League, despite Alphonse Areola already being in situ as his long-term successor.
Ogbonna confirmed back in February that he wants to extend his stay, having recovered from an ACL injury suffered last term to play a regular part this season, though he is suspended for Thursday’s Europa Conference League quarter-final second-leg tie against Gent.
“It feels like a family here and I want to be part of this family,” the Italian said.