Sam Allardyce fears defender Winston Reid could leave West Ham on a free transfer at the end of the season.
New Zealand captain Reid has established himself as a key player with the London club since his move from Danish side FC Midtjylland back in 2010.
The centre-back is in the last year of his contract at Upton Park and West Ham have so far failed to agree fresh terms with the 26-year-old.
West Ham manager Allardyce knows Reid s future is out of his hands, but hopes an agreement can be reached to keep him at the Premier League club.
It is not only a concern for me, but it is a concern for the owners, he said.
There s been talk about Winston and his contract for a pretty long period now which is obviously not my responsibility.
But hopefully, sooner rather than later, that will come to a conclusion and a positive one. I can only hope that is going to be a positive result in the end.
It s not that he doesn t want to stay. It s about the financial remuneration and whether they can come to the right level and right give or take or negotiation that gets us to a point where he will say, yes . That s always the hard bit.
If we could tie him up tomorrow then I think the owners, particularly, and myself would like that and not have it lingering. It s always a difficult negotiation.
