Hammers boss Alan Pardew has revealed that he is soon to make a decision over the long-term future of on-loan full-back Jon Harley.
Harley - who arrived from Fulham six weeks ago initially on a one month loan (which has since been extended to three) - has been told by the Cottagers that he may leave on a free transfer once he finds a suitable club.And the young defender has made it clear in earlier interviews that he is keen to secure a future at West Ham - and now, according to Pardew, is the time to make the decision one way or the other.
Talking yesterday about the situation, Pardew explained:
"We have to make a decision on Jon soon because of the March deadline, which is a problem for us because we haven't got a secure left-back until the end of the season - and Jon Harley's loan doesn't cover him til the end of the season.
"It's a bit complicated, but we need to make sure we've got somebody until the end of the year in that position.
"We can't extend his loan, we've extended it as far as we can. So we have to take him on a permanent or if we can't do that we'll have to take somebody else before the deadline."
Talking about his performances since arriving at West Ham, Pardew added:
"I think anyone playing behind Matty has it difficult; he kind of gets it and goes and it difficult whether to know if to support him, to overlap him.
"But I think it's important that the relationship stays the same and if it's working for us then I'll be looking to keep that relationship the same."
That one 'hole' aside, Pardew finally appears to be happy with the squad with which he has to work.
"I had a full squad to pick from against Cardiff bar the one player who I'm still waiting to come back who might threaten that team - Steve Lomas.
"He's not quite right yet, but we might look to get him up to speed by loaning him out maybe.
"Other than that, the squad is healthy, I'm trying to keep it together."
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