Hammers hope to nail down Defoe deal

West Ham chairman Terence Brown insists there is a chance Jermain Defoe will stay at Upton Park beyond his current contact.

It had been reported that Brown expected the 21-year-old striker to leave the Hammers.

Premiership champions Manchester United have been linked with a move for Defoe, who upset West Ham fans by handing in a transfer request within 24 hours of the club being relegated to the Nationwide League.

The transfer request was later withdrawn and Brown told the club’s official website, www.whufc.co.uk: “It is not a foregone conclusion that he will be leaving us and, while we know he is ambitious to return to the Premiership and play for England this summer, we believe and hope that those targets can be attained while he is at West Ham.

“Nothing would give us more pleasure than if he did sign a contract extension in the course of this season and that is something the club is actively seeking to encourage.”

Brown had reportedly claimed Defoe was “not right in the head” at yesterday’s club AGM, but added: “I would like to clarify my earlier comment regarding Jermain Defoe at the AGM on Monday as I would not like it to be misconstrued.

“While I referred to Jermain’s state of mind, I would like to make it clear that I was referring to a time prior to Alan Pardew’s arrival, in the aftermath of the bitter disappointment of relegation – a blow that Jermain felt as keenly as the rest of us.

“Although he was perhaps badly advised in requesting a transfer the day after we were relegated that matter was dealt with to our mutual satisfaction and it has not had a detrimental effect on Jermain’s professional relationship with the club.”