Rate it!

1 votes

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola remains hopeful of convincing defender Lucas Neill to sign a new deal with the club.

The Australia international's contract at Upton Park expired at the end of last month and he did not fly to Beijing with the Hammers for this week's Barclays Asia Trophy, fuelling speculation that his future lies elsewhere.

He had previously rejected a fresh offer from West Ham when they are believed to have offered the 31-year-old reduced terms to remain at the club. Mark Hughes, who previously worked with Neill at Blackburn, has been linked with a bid to take the player to Manchester City, while reports also claim Galatasaray are keen to reunite him with Socceroos team-mate Harry Kewell.

But Zola sees Neill as a key player for West Ham as they look to improve on their ninth-placed finish last season and insists talks remain ongoing.

"Lucas Neill is talking with the club," said the Italian. "We need obviously to have some negotiations but I am hoping that he is going to join us as soon as possible.

"I know his name has been linked to other clubs. Last time I spoke to the player he told me that if anything could happen he would call me first. So far he has not called me so I assume he is not yet going anywhere. He was an important player last year and our aim this year is to work to improve how we did last season and we hope that he will make his decision."

Zola also said striker Dean Ashton, another player at the centre of transfer speculation, and Valon Behrami had been left behind in England to continue treatment and rehabilitation.

"Valon Behrami is training and doing very, very well," Zola said of the Swiss midfielder, who suffered a knee injury in March.

"The only reason we haven't brought him is because he wouldn't be able to do the things here that he's been doing.

"He's been working on the pitch, running, kicking the ball and he's looking very, very well."

"Dean Ashton is for the same reason ... he's working on his own with the physio and he's progressing," he added. "I'm waiting to have a word with him..."

West Ham play Tottenham in their opening Asia Trophy match on Wednesday with the winner going on to play either Hull City or Beijing Guoan in Friday's final.

"We know that if we want to get fit for the season we have to play real games ... we didn't come here for an exhibition, we came here for a proper match," said Zola.

Reuters / PA Sport