Premier League - Neill leads West Ham exodus

Eurosport - Thu, 04 Jun 13:18:00 2009

Manchester City are among the clubs rumoured to be chasing Lucas Neill's signature after the Australia defender opted to leave West Ham.

FOOTBALL Australia and West Ham captain Lucas Neill, who is set to leave the club after rejecting a one-year deal on a pay cut - 0

The Hammers made a "significant offer" to the out-of-contract full-back, 31, who was keen to secure a 12-month deal in order to take him up to next summer's World Cup in South Africa.

However, Neill, who controversially turned down an offer from Liverpool to join the London club in January 2007, rejected their proposal in order to pursue "other opportunities", according to West Ham's website.

Joining the former Blackburn player through the Upton Park exit are Diego Tristan, Lee Bowyer, Walter Lopez, Kyel Reid, Tony Stokes and Jimmy Walker.

In addition, the loans of Jan Lastuvka, Radoslav Kovac and David Di Michele have ended and will not be renewed.

Coming the other way are Calum Davenport and Julien Faubert, whose respective loan spells at Sunderland and Real Madrid have ended.

PA Sport

Comment 10 - 29 of 49

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  1. Didn't realise Portsmouth was in London or Kent­ Daaaaa

    From Jamie C, on Thu 4 Jun 12:21PM

  2. exodus my arse the players leaving are not really first­ choice and neill is just being bloody greedy, they­ will all regret it west ham will be the next club to be­ taken over by some billionaire they only buy well­ supported clubs an in london an kent people love the­ hammers

    From Jimmyrice man u are champs again, on Thu 4 Jun 12:07PM

  3. Comment 22, Karenb1975cfc. What a class act you sound.­ Some loud mouth chav scum. All teams release players­ you stupid bint. Chelski are hardly a good example of­ player development are they?

    Back to the thread, I­ agree Glen Johnson would be a good acquisition.Lucas­ Neill can go, he is a good player but certainly not­ indispensible. I'm sure Zola and Clarke will­ supplement the squad with good players, but we must be­ realistic, we haven't got the mega bucks like some­ others. I think we must lose Ashton asap as he is a­ drain on resources and I can't see him staying fit.­ Another striker is key.

    From thebritishjudge, on Thu 4 Jun 12:05PM

  4. Neill not worth a mention. Just had a look at the­ Hammers home page at the squad for 2009/2010 no mention­ of Mathew Upson leaving or staying. Anyone any ideas?

    From Ronsenglish, on Thu 4 Jun 12:04PM

  5. to henryrtidd
    I agree with you there Di Michele has­ been great since he arrived adds flair and vision to­ the West Ham team so its a strange one that they aint­ keeping him on

    From garethtait1, on Thu 4 Jun 11:28AM

  6. Di Michele should be renewed or bought for sure, why­ are they letting him go??? some of his passing has been­ outstanding this past season.

    From henryrtidd, on Thu 4 Jun 11:15AM

  7. Why would Manchester City be interested in signing­ Lucas Neill they have unlimited funds it seems to buy­ players and Mark Hughes wants to sign a 31 year old­ right back? lack of ambition in my opinion

    From garethtait1, on Thu 4 Jun 11:15AM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    west ham are s*** anyway!!!!!!!!!!! look at what they­ did the John Terry, when he was a kid, they bumped him­ off thier books saying he'll never make it!!!!!!!!­ F off west ham, look at him now, england captain,­ chelsea captain..... f u hammers

    From karenb1975cfc, on Thu 4 Jun 11:06AM

  9. being an Aussie i like Lucas, he loves to play in the­ green and gold ,but he went to west ham for the wrong­ reasons and seems to have left for the same ones, poor­ showing in my book. he will land on his feet but he can­ expect a pay cut.

    From Daniel, on Thu 4 Jun 11:01AM

  10. a good clear out is what we needed. bring in some fresh­ blood to carry on the tradition. we want to see a tea­ that can pass and move. Lets be entertained. Lets hope­ Zola is here for the longhaul. Its the first time in­ years i feel optimistic about the future, and can­ really see european football on the horizon, where we­ can put up a fight, not like last time when we just­ keeled over and slipped home quietly.
    I good feel­ around the Bolelyn, come on you IRONS!!!!!!!

    From Kevin, on Thu 4 Jun 10:49AM

  11. Davenport a better player than neill? what planet are­ you living on comment 1???

    From recruitmentch, on Thu 4 Jun 10:38AM

  12. Sorry to say this West ham, but i`m glad you got him­ instead of Liverpool, at least he`s going now, along­ with a load of other dead heads, now Zola ( whom i have­ great admiration for) can work some of his magic and­ start to rebuild for next season. Good luck !
    From­ Liverpool fan.

    From Bike 69, mabaho ka !, on Thu 4 Jun 10:32AM

  13. Nice to see the useless overpaid players are leaving­ the club, interested to see Zola in his first full­ summer transfer window and hope he can bring in some­ quality to move the hammers up the table where they­ belong....Tevez back to the hammers !!!!! you never­ know.....stranger things have happened.

    From ajj_101_01, on Thu 4 Jun 10:28AM

  14. Still shocked the Faubert ever went on loan to Madrid,­ has he even played ten games for West Ham?!

    From andrewjonharrison, on Thu 4 Jun 10:23AM

  15. totally overrated and injury prone

    From Chilla Black, on Thu 4 Jun 9:52AM

  16. he's already old....

    From SaMiR NaSRi, on Thu 4 Jun 9:49AM

  17. Agree with all the previous statements....Perhaps we­ should now go and get a decent full back...How about­ Glen Johnson ? Would rather pay him lots of money.

    From withey.paul, on Thu 4 Jun 9:13AM

  18. I'm glad he's gone, he was average at best and­ has been since he joined. He gave away to many silly­ free kicks in dangerous areas constantly. How the heel­ he got the club captaincy is beyond me, another bad­ decision by Curbs. Hopefully a captain will be­ appointed who cares for the club and not for the pay­ cheque. Good by you aussie mug, we won't miss you.

    From mikewife, on Thu 4 Jun 8:47AM

  19. what a mug-f*@k off back 2 oz. last season proved u­ aint no 90k wk player
    parker will captain the westham­ charge towards europe next season
    thats providing we­ can limit the injuries which has plagued us for the­ last few seasons
    players like lucas neil has never been­ a player to fight 4 the cause.
    he left blackburn 4­ upton park 4 the dosh-next season will be either at man­ city
    or back in the lan ov oz-thank f*@k no player is­ bigger than the club.

    From stephen, on Thu 4 Jun 2:11AM

  20. never rated him,wasn't a captain in my eyes.best of­ luck to who ever takes him on.he is in it for the money

    From nicholas, on Thu 4 Jun 12:00AM
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