Speaking exclusively to West Ham Zone, Frank McAvennie admitted that he anticipates that Ben Johnson will not be kept by West Ham this summer after he was not selected by David Moyes for the Manchester United game.
The Hammers did not have their regular right-back Vladimir Coufal due to a hamstring injury, but Johnson was still not given the opportunity to start in the 1-0 victory at the London Stadium on Sunday (7 May). Moyes instead opted to move Thilo Kehrer from centre-back to right-back.
McAvennie initially believed that Johnson would be given the chance to play, but now thinks that Moyes does not have faith in him and will likely release him at the end of the season.
“They must have someone else lined up at right-back then, because I just though he’d come in for Coufal,” he told West Ham Zone.
“They must have somebody else or they wouldn’t have let him go. They don’t trust him, they don’t think he deserves a new contract, but they’re going to need him for the last four or five games.
Reports suggest that although Ben Johnson’s current contract with West Ham runs until 2024, it is unlikely to be extended. Despite making 21 appearances in various competitions this season, he has only been included in the starting XI eight times in the Premier League and has amassed a total of 772 minutes in the top flight.