WEST STAM UNITED KEEPING OPTIONS OPEN

club’s website after a 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth, and publicly apologised to fans after last week’s 3-2 home defeat to Leicester.

Former Manchester United star Stam (left) has impressed at Reading.

The 44-year-old is only in his first full-time job in management, but he has taken the Royals into the play-off positions in the Championship.

Stam – who held the manager’s job at Dutch club Zwolle on a temporary basis – has signed a two-year deal at the Berkshire club.

If he takes Reading to the play-offs and the brink of a place in the Premier League, it will mark an impressive turnaround for a club that finished 17th in the Championship last season.

The attraction for West Ham is that they would only need to pay compensation for one season’s salary to Reading for the Dutchman if they wish to bring him in.