Hammers face late rush to get deals done

West Ham face a late rush to get deals done and will wait until the season ends before deciding who stays and goes.

The Hammers are known to have several players in the last year of their contracts but can make no decisions ahead of the final game if the season until they know which league they will be playing in.

Johnson – one of those who will be left wondering about his future.

That means the likes of Lukasz Fabianski, Ben Johnson, Angelo Ogbonna and Manu Lanzini will not see their representatives start talks with the board until May 29 the earliest with the last game being played on that Sunday at Leicester City.

The club has made it crystal clear to Claret and Hugh they have no plans to talk to any player before the end of the season given the difficult league position we find ourselves in and that works both ways.

It means a hugely busy period will be created for David Moyes, Rob Newman and David Sullivan  as they bid to get contracts tied down ahead of the 23/24 season.

Such discussions are normally going on way ahead of that time at around Christmas but that is obviously proving very difficult this time around.

No player is going to be ready to agree to a deal until it is clear where  we are and whether there is any interest in them.

Ben Johnson and Michail Antonio are both allegedly fancied by Everton although with the Toffees also fighting relegation that option may be closed off to both of them,