West Ham are not ruling out a further one year contract for James Collins when his latest deal comes to an end next summer.

Although Ginge is 33 in August, the battling Welshman remained ahead of ‘on his way’ James Tomkins when fit last season and is hugely admired by boss Slaven Bilic.

And although Reece Burke and Reece Oxford are the club’s rising defensive stars, insiders at West Ham have told ClaretandHugh that there is still a great desire to keep Collins on board for the forseeable future.

Indeed, it’s quite possible that such is his character he could be offered a backroom job when the time finally comes for him to bring down the curtain on his career.

We were told: “Ginge is West Ham to his backbone of course but beyond that, his form was excellent whenever he was available last season.

“Obviously we will need to see how things go over the season but should he maintain that level of performance there’s no reason to believe he won’t get another one year deal. You wouldn’t rule out a backroom job.

“Ginge is a fantastic character to have around the place and a model of professionaoism who is much admired by the young players.”