Third club makes bid for Carrick

West Ham manager Alan Pardew has revealed the club have received another bid for midfielder Michael Carrick.

Portsmouth failed with a £2.5m (€3.75m) offer for Carrick this week, but they are no longer favourites to sign him, with Pardew revealing a higher offer has been made.

He said: “There is a bid on the table which is higher than Portsmouth’s valuation. There are more than two clubs involved now and rightly so because he’s a top-class player.

“Michael leaving was something we knew would happen as soon as we lost the play-off final to Palace last season. We need the money.”

Last month Crystal Palace, who beat the Hammers in the play-off final to win promotion to the Premiership, also failed with a £2.5m offer for the 23-year-old.

Carrick looks set to be dropped by West Ham for their curtain-raiser at Leicester while the chase for his signature gathers pace.

It is believed three clubs – Portsmouth, Everton and Crystal Palace – are in the race to sign the midfielder, who can walk away for nothing when his contract expires in a year’s time.

And Hammers boss Pardew is concerned the constant speculation could have a destabilising effect both on Carrick and West Ham if he is allowed to play at the Walker’s Stadium.

Pardew said: “This is not the best timing while we are preparing for Leicester. There is obviously a question mark about whether he will play for us on Saturday.

“Whether he plays on Saturday will come down to how he feels. There is a huge risk for us to play him, not just financially but mentally for the squad. There is no easy answer.”

Pardew has signed Teddy Sheringham, Sergei Rebrov and Luke Chadwick this summer, and plans to continue adding to his squad.

But it looks increasingly likely that Carrick, long regarded as the one remaining jewel in West Ham’s crown since the exodus following relegation from the Premiership, has played his last game for the club.