Ashton Staying at West Ham

Today The Evening Standard report that Alan Pardew has slammed rumours of Ashton leaving the club and insists he is not for sale, "I guarantee Dean is going nowhere".

The paper also reports that Ghana player John Pantsil has been taken on our pre-season tour of Sweden, so that the player can be assessed. Lastly, the paper also claims that West Ham have made a £4 million bid for Swiss winger Tranquillo Barnetta. The 21-year-old currently plays for Bayer Leverkusen and goes by the nickname ‘Quillo’. Barnetta’s professional career began at the age of 17 with St Gallen. Showing lots of promise, he was signed by Bayer Leverkusen and had a brief loan period at Hannover 96 before returning to Leverkusen. As an attacking midfielder, he is currently hailed as one of the greatest young talents in Germany.

John Pantsil is normally used as a right back but can also play on the left or in midfield. He was a member of the Ghana team which finished as runners-up at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship and was selected for full international honours soon afterwards. At club level, the versatile Pantsil has played in Israel since 2002, and he made five appearances for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the UEFA Champions League. He started all three of Ghana’s matches at the 2006 African Cup of Nations and four matches in qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He also represented Ghana at the 2002 African Cup of Nations and the 2004 Olympic Games.