West Ham United ‘cautious’ in contract talks with Harrison Ashby – Journalist
West Ham United are “cautious” about giving Harrison Ashby a new contract as speculation grows over his future at the club according to ex-Eurosport journalist Dean Jones.
The Sun’s Alan Nixon revealed (via his Patreon , 4 September) that Leeds United are expected to rival Newcastle for the 20-year-old’s services in January.
It has also been suggested by reliable Hammers source Claret and Hugh (5 September) that Ashby could reject a new deal from the club.
However, Jones has suggested the Hammers are reluctant to offer him a new deal due to the knock effect it could have at the club.
Talking to GIVEMESPORT (14 September), Jones said: “West Ham have to try and sort out the situation.
“They’re very cautious about giving him a big, new contract because of the knock-on effect it might have to other players within the set-up. This is a situation that is going to be ongoing for a little bit.”
Another contract scenario
Ashby’s contract dilemma has a similar feel to Sonny Perkins’ situation before he decided to depart the club and join Leeds United.
Youngsters that are coming through the academy at West Ham seem to feel that they should be offered better terms, which they can get elsewhere and it’s resulting in some of the Irons younger players leaving the club.
Ultimatley, Ashby hasn’t played many times in the first team and probably isn’t deserving of a big contract at the moment. West Ham may well be better off offering their younger talents longer contracts when they’re coming up through the academy to prevent situations such as this arising.
It’s not a good look for the club to see their youth prospects poached by other Premier League sides who haven’t invested time and money into their development.
Ashby could well be the next example of this happening and potentially giving him more first team chances in the coming weeks and months could well see the Scotland under-21 international commit his future to the club.
Yet again, this far from an ideal situation for the Hammers.