West Ham are set to delay formal contract talks with manager David Moyes until there is clarity on when supporters can return to stadia, according to the Daily Mail.
Despite some reports to the contrary this week of a potential new deal for the 57-year-old, the Daily Mail claimed that the club have decided not to finalise any contract extensions until the start of 2021.
They added that the hierarchy fears a ‘public backlash’ were they to offer out improved deals whilst the rest of the country feels the economic effects of the pandemic.
West Ham are among a host of clubs to begin the path back to full stadia this weekend as the London Stadium welcomes 2,000 supporters for the clash with Manchester United.
This may pave the way for increased spectator limits in 2021 and should therefore ease financial concerns, allowing the Hammers to tie down Moyes and a number of important squad members including Michail Antonio, Lukasz Fabianski, and Fabian Balbuena.
The future of club captain Mark Noble remains in the balance, however, as recently Roshane Thomas suggested on the U Irons podcast that this season could be the skipper’s last at the club.
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This is the kind of thing which must be well communicated with those in question beforehand, as otherwise the club faces the very real possibility of losing a plethora of key figures – not for the first time in Moyes’ case.
Whilst there are no signs of the likes of Antonio becoming unsettled in east London, from January he would be free to discuss a summer transfer to other clubs – a dangerous precedent for the Irons, who would surely be desperate to keep such an important player.
Already much-maligned for allowing Grady Diangana to leave in the summer transfer window – should a delay in contract talks lead to the loss of key figures such as Moyes or Antonio, it could spell a fierce backlash from some of the Hammers faithful.
