Kieran Maguire: This may be Real Reason West Ham owners stalling over Moyes deal
West Ham United are holding fire on handing David Moyes a new deal as there won’t be a “huge queue” for his services, says Kieran Maguire.
The finance expert and new Football Insider columnist spoke exclusively after it was revealed that Moyes effectively has another 18 months left to run on his contract rather than the presumed six, as per the Daily Mirror.
That is because a clause in the manager’s deal will trigger a one-year extension once Premier League survival is guaranteed — which is all but certain with West Ham currently 5th in the Premier League.
The owners will reportedly enter discussions with Moyes over a long-term deal at the end of the campaign once they have adequately assessed their financial situation.
And the reason the London Stadium hierarchy are content to bide their time, says Maguire, is because they don’t think he’ll be an in-demand manager any time soon.
He told Football Insider: “I think they’ve adopted a wait-and-see attitude. There wasn’t a huge queue of people looking to appoint David Moyes when they got him.
“I felt he was a little bit harshly treated at United, but he went to Sunderland and Real Sociedad. He’s not exactly enhanced his reputation with those appointments.
“So I think the West Ham owners have taken the view that they’re going to be the only ticket in town for him in the summer and therefore there’s no pressure on them.
“Sometimes when you’ve got an up-and-coming manager, you might want to secure him on a long-term contract because that way you’ll get a lot of compensation.
“But they’re content to renew in the summer because they don’t think he’ll get a better offer elsewhere.”
This is Moyes’ second spell at the London Stadium after steering towards Premier League safety following Manuel Pellegrini’s mid-season dismissal in 2017-18.
The Scot did not have his contract renewed at the end of that campaign, though most commentators agree that he is in a stronger negotiating position this time around given the club’s league position.
In other news, a top pundit has admitted to being wowed by West Ham’s high-profile addition in Jesse Lingard.