Friday 12 December 2014 07:42, UK
West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has put a £20m price tag on Winston Reid and insisted he would rather let the centre-back leave for nothing next summer than sell him in January.
The 26-year-old New Zealand international's contract at Upton Park expires at the end of the season and he has been linked with Liverpool and Arsenal.
With Reid able to leave the club for nothing at the end of the season, the Hammers could have looked to cash in on the former FC Midtjylland defender and tried to sign a replacement during the January transfer window.
But as Reid continues to develop into a vital part of Allardyce's squad, which has impressed this season, the manager said only serious money could tempt him to sell.
"He isn't going anywhere," Allardyce insisted. "He is not going anywhere unless someone bids £20m or something like that. There is obviously not a lot I can do about that.
"If somebody flirts around with a measly offer because he is in the last year of his contract, we would make more money by keeping him and finishing where we are in the league than selling him and putting our good season in jeopardy. Because replacing him in January - replacing anybody in January - is a very difficult job indeed."
Eight wins in their opening 15 games have left West Ham in fourth place heading into their clash with Sunderland on Saturday and Allardyce hopes that a continuation of that form could tempt Reid to stay, even if the negotiations are out of his hands.
"I just don't pay too much attention to it now it has gone on so long," he said of the contract talks. "I just hope that the phone call is a yes when the chairman rings me up at some stage. At the moment it is neither a positive nor a negative. It is neither a yes or a no from Reidy at the moment.
"In the end, I just hope he decides what is happening this season here and what is happening with us now has a telling factor on the decision that he makes in the end and it is not just money.
"After a difficult start after an injury and a difficult back end to last season, has started to show some reasonably good form - and that is why I say reasonably good - we have only got three clean sheets, so they do get a bit of stick from me."
