Fabian Balbuena’s agent says player wants to stay, amid recent exit talk

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West Ham United defender Fabian Balbuena apparently wants to stay at the club, according to the player’s agent.

At the moment, the Paraguay international is set to leave the London Stadium at the end of the season with his current contract expiring in the summer.

Balbuena has been with West Ham since the summer of 2018, arriving from Corinthians as former manager Manuel Pellegrini’s sixth signing.

For a reported £6.5 million (Sky Sports), Balbuena has proven to be pretty shrewd business by the club and in 2020/21, he has arguably produced some of his best performances.

There’s been no word about an extension yet, but it seems that is what the player would like.

The star’s representative Augusto Paraja told ESPN Brazil: “He is one of the captains of the team, he’s starting and wants to continue. I received many calls from journalists asking about Flamengo, but there’s no possibility of him returning to South America.

“He wants to continue in England, there’s no concern because of that.”

It was reported last week that Flamengo intended to swoop for the South American centre-half.

TBR’s View – Balbuena deserves fresh terms

Balbuena is seemingly ready to commit his future to the club, and Hammers officials should indeed be granting him a new deal.

The star sometimes gets found out by quicker Premier League players, but in the time that he’s been at West Ham, he’s generally proven himself to be a capable and reliable top-flight defender.

The £40,000-a-week star (Spotrac) been a big factor in West Ham’s improvement at the back this season, and a deal of two to three more years would probably be the best outcome.