Hammers reject £9 million offer for defender

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West Ham have rejected bids of £8 million and £9 million from two Premier League clubs for James Tomkins.

And although there is no official confirmation from inside the club, the home grown central defender now looks to be a certain departure this summer.

There was much speculation last summer that he was unlikely to be Slav’s first choice and the manager settled on a first team central defensive partnership of Angelo Ogbonna and Winston Reid as his preferred pairing, with James Collins very much in the picture when fit.

ClaretandHugh exclusively revealed several days ago the central defender will be allowed to move on and he has been linked with Palace and Sunderland in the past.

We were told by a highly placed Hammers insider: “It’s very much the manager’s decision because James spent a lot of time on the bench last season and he’s unhappy with that.

“As a result the manager will allow him to move on as he doesn’t want unhappy players in the squad but we have not received a suitable offer at this stage.”