Following the news that his contract won’t be renewed, Ben Johnson may be on the verge of leaving West Ham in January.
The 23-year-old defender and midfielder Connor Coventry will be free agents after their contracts expire next summer, according to Sean Whetstone, editor of 6foot2, who tweeted the news on Tuesday (19 September).
Johnson has a higher transfer value than the other player because of his first-team experience, thus it is likely that the Hammers will try to sell both players in January.
The right-back will have been devastated to learn that his stint with the Irons is about to come to an end.
He joined the team when he was seven years old and has since advanced through the famed academy and into the senior team.
Johnson made his Premier League debut in a 2-1 loss to Manchester City in February 2019 and has since fought for a spot in the West Ham backline.
He has played every position at the back throughout the course of that period, appearing in 87 games while tallying two goals and one assist.
Even though he hasn’t always had many opportunities, he has occasionally threatened to usurp Vladimir Coufal as the right-back and has challenged the veteran.
However, after playing just 29 games as opposed to 35 the year before, his game time began to decline.
The 4-0 thrashing by Brighton in March, when the defender had a terrible game and subsequently went eight games without playing a minute of Premier League football, proved to be a turning point.
He hasn’t played a single minute despite sitting on the bench for this season’s first three games, and he hasn’t been picked for the last two.
Given that his value to the team has substantially decreased over the past few months, the news that his contract is not expected to be extended doesn’t really come as much of a surprise.
It would be better to try and get a price for Johnson in January rather than let him go at the conclusion of the season because David Moyes is obviously not keen on retaining him at the London Stadium.
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