Ben Johnson’s contract demands at West Ham United take a new turn, with a £35,000-a-week deal on the table.

Ben Johnson’s contract demands at West Ham United take a new turn, with a £35,000-a-week deal on the table.

Ben Johnson’s contract demands at West Ham United take a new turn, with a £35,000-a-week deal on the table.
According to Claret & Hugh, West Ham United are ready to offer defender Ben Johnson a new contract worth around £35k per week to keep him at the London Stadium.

According to reliable Hammers journalists, the defender and his agents have made demands of around £60,000 per week, which the Irons are unwilling to match due to his “fringe” status at the club.

West Ham would be willing to offer £35k per week plus £25k per match appearance, which seems reasonable for a player who won’t be playing every week and hasn’t performed well at the club in the last 18 months.

Bizarre
This latest development regarding Johnson all seems a bit bizarre and given his limited minutes at the London Stadium, it’s strange that West Ham United would be willing to hand him a new deal.
This is a surprising new twist in Johnson’s future at the clubs, following reports that he could be made available for transfer in the January transfer window (Claret and Hugh, 18 October).

Bizarre

This latest Johnson development appears strange, and given his limited minutes at the London Stadium, it’s strange that West Ham United would be willing to offer him a new contract.

Johnson has no right to make such lofty contract demands given that he has only started one game for the club this season and hasn’t started a Premier League game since last season.

Everton are said to be interested in a potential move, with Southampton and even Luton named as potential destinations in the future, and if any of those clubs can guarantee first-team minutes, Johnson will jump at the chance after this new development.

It remains to be seen whether the young defender would be willing to part with such a large sum of money per week, and he may well look elsewhere to see if any club can match the lofty demands he and his agents have made, but even that appears extremely unlikely.

Emerson and Vladimir Coufal have been solid options for Moyes over the past year, and he hasn’t been able to push them aside in order to cement his own spot in the side, making just 17 appearances last season and one this season.

Johnson, at the age of 23, needs to play regularly to get his career back on the right path, which is why a January departure will be the best solution for all parties.