John Heitinga has revealed he has rejected a switch to West Ham United, as he doesn’t feel it would be a good move for his career.
The 30-year-old defender is out of favour at Everton under Roberto Martinez, who has restricted his inclusion to just two League Cup matches this season. Sam Allardyce was willing to give Heitinga regular action at Upton Park, a move which would have enhanced the player’s chances of featuring for Holland at the World Cup Finals.
However, the former Ajax and Atletico Madrid man has rejected a move to the Premier League strugglers, believing it would not be a good option for him at this stage of his career. With just six months left on his contract at Goodison Park, he will instead sit tight and see what other offers are made to him before the 31 January deadline.
“At my age it’s important to make the right decisions,” Heitinga said in a statement released via his agents, Sport Promotion. “Then it’s not all about the money, as that wasn’t a problem at West Ham United. You have to be fully convinced that you will make the right step and I didn’t have that. Therefore I will now wait for the interest of other clubs.
“The interest is there already, so I am confident I will find another club before January 31st. I am fully fit and a player on top of my strengths. I want to go to the World Cup in Brazil. I know that Louis Van Gaal requires his selected players playing weekly. At the moment, that’s not the situation at Everton and therefore I am now looking for other options.”
Signing Heitinga, who has an abundance of experience with 87 international caps, would have been a good move for the Hammers, who suffered a damaging 2-1 defeat at Fulham on Wednesday afternoon. This result leaves them second from bottom of the Premier League table, three points adrift of Cardiff City in 17th position.
Manager Allardyce knows he needs to add to his squad to improve his side’s chances of beating the drop, so missing out on the Dutch ace will be a blow. He could yet still conduct some business with Everton, though, with reports suggesting he will return to Goodison Park with a bid for Croatian international striker Nikica Jelavic.
