Sam Allardyce won’t sign a new contract until he knows how much he will have available in the transfer market next season.
Much has been made of his West Ham future in recent months and co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan have both said a new contract will only be offered if the club can remain in the Premier League.
And Sam, despite admitting a deal is close, has admitted he won’t be prepared to sign a new contract unless he is promised a budget that help him take the club forward next season.
He said: “My contract is being processed. The finer details need to be finalised but overall it looks pretty sound and it looks as if it’s going to be okay.
“I don’t see any problems cropping up – but the final budget needs to be set. If I’m going to sign a new contract I need to see what the budget looks like before I sign that deal.
“But to be fair to the owners, they have never let me down yet – they have always stumped up as much as they possibly could.”
The 58-year-old also hinted that is already planning for next season and indicated that a deal for Andy Carroll and a new, improved contract for Mohamed Diame are high on his agenda.
“I think we have spent it wisely so far but we have got to progress,” he added.
“I see three or four players going out and four or five coming in. Andy Carroll and Mo Diame – with a new contract – would come in to that list.”
“Andy has made good friends here and slotted in well. He enjoys London and being able to go out in the big city and not be recognised the way he was in Liverpool and Newcastle.
“And with Diame, it’s up to us to give him the best offer we can. There is a buy-out clause and someone could trigger it. That could have happened in January and I don’t know why it didn’t, maybe people weren’t clever enough to.”
