Winston Reid set to finalise deal with West Ham

  • Breaking
  • 04/08/2010

By Andrew Gourdie

Overnight English Premier League side West Ham United released a statement claiming they were working on completing a deal for a "young international who represented his country with distinction at the World Cup."

3 News understands that player is All Whites defender Winston Reid.

Reid refused to comment on the situation when contacted by 3 News but sources tell us West Ham officials made contact with the Reid and his representatives after grabbing international headlines with his performances at the World Cup.

Since then a deal has been struck between West Ham and Reid's Danish club F Midjylland, and all that's required now is for Reid to agree personal terms and complete a medical before signing with the east London club.

If the deal goes ahead Reid would become just the sixth New Zealander to play in the English Premier League, joining Blackburn Rovers and All Whites skipper Ryan Nelsen and West Bromwich Albion's Chris Wood as the other Kiwis currently plying their trade in what's considered the world's most prestigious football competition.

So what about the club Reid's set to join?

West Ham are a club with a proud history. They've won the FA Cup three times, and were particularly strong in the sixties.

Three of their players were crucial to England's World Cup success in 1966 with goal-scorers Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, as well as iconic captain Bobby Moore all playing for West Ham at the time.

Since then they've produced modern day stars such as Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Jermain Defoe and Rio Ferdinand.

They've all gone on to achieve great success with other Premier League clubs and at the young age of 22 Reid could do the same.

 Now a deal is expected to be finalised over the next 48 hours and we'll bring you more on this developing story in the coming days.

3 News

source: newshub archive