Will Scott Parker leave West Ham this summer?

It seems strange that as soon as West Ham realised that they would be playing in the Championship they were promoting the sale of their best players.

In fact even when the club still had survival hopes the West Ham hierarchy were saying that their England internationals would leave.

Quiet

Despite that Robert Green, Carlton, Matthew Upson and Scott Parker are still with the Irons. The expected fire sale hasn’t taken place. The thing that really surprises me is that Scott Parker is still at the club.

Preparing

It seems that might only be a temporary situation though. West Ham boss Sam Allardyce told Sky Sports: “ I’m planning for life with and without Scott Parker. If the right club comes with the right money then we are going to release Scott because he wants to play in the Premier League. We do need the finances that will bring.

“We’ve only received a bid for Carlton Cole that was good enough for us to accept. We had an insult of a bid from West Brom for Robert Green and that was rejected straight away, but we haven’t had any bid at all for Scott Parker at the moment.

“But that can all change when we get into August because people pick up injuries, they start to wonder whether they’ve got what they really need, the mayhem will continue until the end of August.”

So it seems that West Ham are expecting to sell the midfielder. I thought he would have been the first player snapped up when the club were relegated. Obviously other clubs are being patient in their pursuit of the England international.

Age

One of the reasons why the Footballer of the Year hasn’t been signed by another club could be his age. He is only 30 but teams will have to take that into account if they are looking to sign a midfielder for the long-term.

Parker could cost a big transfer and is also on quite high wages at West Ham. It seems that these factors have put clubs off making a bid for Parker so far this summer.

Consistency

Last season in a bad team Scott Parker shone out like a beacon in the night. He kept the team going,  even when at times they looked doomed. His level of consistency was an example to every player in the English top flight and that’s why he got awarded the Footballer of the Year last award.

He isn’t the most technically gifted midfielder in the league but he gives his all and is an inspiration to the players around him. For the last two seasons he has been an inspirational character in the Irons dressing room.

Interest

A lot of Premier League clubs have been linked with a move for the former-Charlton star. Former club Chelsea have been linked with a loan move for the 30 year-old but nothing has yet come of that. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is also a known admirer.

However I can’t see either of those clubs signing Scott Parker this summer. Arsenal because they only sign young players and Chelsea because their new boss Andre Villa-Boas is still assessing the strengths and weaknesses of his squad.

The rumour that keeps popping up is that Scott Parker is interesting Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish. Villa should have money to spend after the summer sales of wingers Stewart Downing and Ashley Young.

Villa are currently slightly short in the centre of the park and surely Scott Parker would be a good signing for the Villans.

Inevitable?

When West Ham were relegated I thought it was inevitable that they would sell all their top stars, well I think everybody did. It now seems that some are likely to stay for next season. However I don’t believe that Scotty Parker will be one of them, he will probably be gone before the transfer window shuts at the end of this month.

Will Scott Parker leave West Ham this summer?