West Ham United Set Deadline for Arsenal Target Winston Reid to Sign New Contract

West Ham United have reportedly set a deadline for Arsenal target Winston Reid to sign a new contract, if not they are willing to cash out on the New Zealand international during the January transfer window.

According to the Mirror, the club have given the defender time till mid-January to sign a new deal and will sell him if he fails to extend his stay at Upton Park.

The New Zealand defender is in the final year of his contract, and is waiting till the end of the season to make his decision regarding his future plans, but the Hammers are not willing to wait and may offload him during the winter transfer window rather than losing him next summer.

Reid has been constantly linked with a move to Arsenal, and Arsene Wenger will be keen to snap him up as the Gunners are struggling at the back with first-choice defenders Laurent Koscielny and Mathieu Debuchy facing lengthy spells on the sidelines with Achilles and ankle problems respectively.

The West Ham co-chairman David Sullivan had recently revealed that the club had offered the defender an incredible offer and is hoping that he agrees a new deal sooner rather than later.

Even manager Sam Allardyce is hoping that the defender and the club can come to an agreement and has revealed that he is concerned along with the owners at the prospect of losing a talented defender in Reid.

"It is not only a concern for me, but it is a concern for the owners. There's been talk about Winston and his contract for a pretty long period now which is obviously not my responsibility," Allardyce said, as quoted by Sky Sports.

"But hopefully, sooner rather than later, that will come to a conclusion and a positive one. I can only hope that is going to be a positive result in the end."

The former Bolton manager has revealed that, the defender is willing to stay if his financial demands are met and is hoping that the negotiations come to a positive conclusion.

"It's not that he doesn't want to stay. It's about the financial remuneration and whether they can come to the right level and right give or take or negotiation that gets us to a point where he will say, 'Yes'. That's always the hard bit today."

"If we could tie him up tomorrow then I think the owners, particularly, and myself would like that and not have it lingering. It's always a difficult negotiation," the former Newcastle United boss added.