News came through last night that Antonio had signed a new 4 year contract at West Ham. This is great news for the club, and a sign they can hold the players they want.
If you’ve been a West Ham fan for a while, you will understand what it’s like to lose top players. It’s only been a few months since Payet left, albeit in controversial circumstances. So to hear Antonio has signed a new contract is great for the club.
It wasn’t too long ago that any top club coming for one of our players meant they were gone. We had very little pull and didn’t have the power to match them monetarily. That’s changed, and it must continue.
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Keeping Top Players A Great Start
When you can keep top players, it’s just as good as a signing. Arguably it can be counted as better, because you already know this player fits in to your squad. Antonio is our current top scorer and to potentially lose him would have been devastating, but the club has held on to him amid some interest from top clubs.
When your best players are signing contracts, better players are more likely to join. A club that can’t keep their players happy is not one you want to join, so it sends a message. Everyone knows the club will be open for business this summer, so we now move into it with a good sign to all of the players we are trying to sign.
The club must continue to keep our best players on long contracts. Whilst it may be expensive in wage terms, if it does come down to selling them in the future we need to make sure that we get the best price possible. And if we can delay exits due to long contracts, and reach Europe with players we have then we can encourage them to stay.
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If there’s one player the club must look at getting on a new contract now it’s Lanzini. Liverpool were rumoured to be interested earlier in the year, and he could certainly step up. He’s a top talent, and one the West Ham faithful want to keep at the club.