Ben Johnson will reject a final West Ham offer of a contract extension in order to hit the market as a free agent, according to TEAMtalk.
Reporting via their website on 10 May the outlet indicated that the Irons are still “reluctant” to lose the versatile defender, 24, despite failing to agree a new deal with him throughout the current season and had tabled “last-ditch” terms in an attempt to convince him to stay at the London Stadium.
However, the Englishman is set to snub the offer and test the market when his current deal expires next month with the likes of Wolves and Southampton hoping to snap him up.
Johnson has made 22 first-team appearances this season but has rarely started regularly for outgoing manager David Moyes.
Ben Johnson set to follow David Moyes out of West Ham
There is something of an irony to the fact that Moyes never really being sold on Johnson as a first-choice option in any of the positions that he can fill has seemingly caused him to run out of patience at West Ham just as the Scot is also leaving.
Julen Lopetegui is on the way in and Tim Steidten has evidently now won the power struggle behind the scenes at the London Stadium so, for better or for worse, a new era is set to begin for the Hammers.
That would seem to represent Johnson’s best chance in years to make a breakthrough in the first team, but there are equally no guarantees that the new Spanish boss will evaluate him differently than the outgoing Moyes, or that the technical director won’t make new signings to block his path to game time.
West Ham will have to hope that their loss isn’t too great although there is widespread interest in his services including the likes of Tottenham and also Aston Villa, so there is clearly a perceived value in the full-back that hasn’t necessarily been realised in East London.
But Johnson has obviously made his mind up if he isn’t willing to chance course now that the managerial situation has been made clear, and the fact that multiple other top flight clubs are showing an interest is bound to have been a significant factor in that decision.
