West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan says he is against any of the Hammers’ players being called up for England this summer, according to Daily Mail.
There has been wide interest from Roy Hodgson to bring back Andy Carroll to the Three Lions squad but a call-up would annoy West Ham authorities.
Sullivan is fearing his players will suffer the same fate of former West Ham striker Dean Ashton, who suffered a severe ankle injury while on international duty and was forced to hang up his boots.
The FA did not give West Ham any compensations at the time and Sullivan apparently still holds a grudge against them.
I don’t want any of our players to go and play for England because I saw what happened to Dean Ashton and we never got a penny off the FA.
They go away, they play extra matches and as a club owner… I suppose it makes them more valuable if you want to sell them.
He admitted he’d rather sign players who’d have harder chances in joining their national sides.
I love players from big countries where it is harder to get in the (international) team. Often players who play in the big tournaments struggle the next season because they haven’t had a long rest in the summer.
West Ham have had a tremendous season so far and are still fighting for a top-four finish with six games left in the campaign.
Dimitri Payet, who signed extended his contract earlier this season, has been impressive and definitely made top European clubs take note of his performances.
But Sullivan has declared that West Ham will keep a hold of their stars. They will only sell players if they are able to sign better replacements.
We will only sell players who we regard, we can buy better players to replace them if that makes sense.
Not many, if any, we will sell. Maybe deals will work at the time. There will be no star players sold.
