West Ham attempt to tie down Ashton
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Dean Ashton came back to form towards the end of the season after a long injury lay-off.
West Ham United will open talks on Friday with Dean Ashton, their most valuable playing asset, about an extension to his contract, with the striker, who is far from being one of the club's highest earners, hoping for a substantial pay rise. The 24-year-old has two years left on his deal but has been anxious for several months to sort out his future.
The Premier League club took the unusual step yesterday of confirming when the talks were scheduled for. It shows the sensitivity over losing Ashton and also West Ham's keenness, following a board meeting on Monday, to keep the £7.25m striker who has just been called into Fabio Capello's squad and who has a very real chance of staking a claim as England's main centre-forward.
Ashton is hugely popular with West Ham fans and the decision to announce the talks may have been influenced by the fact that the club has just sent out season ticket renewal packs. However, Scott Duxbury, the chief executive, said: "The end of the season was the appropriate time to discuss such matters and to meet Dean Ashton and his representatives. We will sit down on Friday with a view to agreeing a new long-term contract."
Ashton wants to stay but is understood to earn less than a third of the wages commanded by the club's highest-earner, Fredrik Ljungberg who is paid £85,000-a-week. West Ham have, however, described as "utter rubbish" claims that the Swedish international has been offered a £3m pay-off to cancel the rest of his three-year contract.