Hammers clear up Downing talk
Riverside chairman Steve Gibson (right) is ready to turn Downing’s head as he bids to make him top man at the Championship club.
But West Ham are nowhere near ready to allow the player to depart the Boleyn as their own summer recruitment campaign continues.
Gibson is attempting to talk the Irons into a deal but ClaretandHugh has learned the Irons board is playing hard ball with the North Eastern outfit.
A top Boleyn insider made the position clear to us in an exclusive comment declaring: “It may be a massive deal for Stewart but it’s not for West Ham United.
“He will only be allowed to leave if we get better players. He wants to go home to the North East but that doesn’t mean we have to let him go.”