“It means a lot” | West Ham star delighted to extend his stay at West Ham. Aaron Cresswell is delighted to sign a one year contract with West Ham and is keen to help the new coaches settle in.
In the modern game, it feels like players have to do that bit more to become a club legend. In many people’s eyes, the only legend for West Ham in recent years is Mark Noble. However, that simply shouldn’t be the case. In fact, you could argue that a few deserve that title, but none more so than Aaron Cresswell.
Following in the footsteps of Alvin Martin, the scouser has been a sensational servant to East London side, playing in 349 games across all competitions and being only a handful away from becoming only the second Hammer to play 300 games in the Premier League. Despite him wanting a move away due to family reasons at one point, he has now decided to extend his stay at West Ham by another year, taking him past the 10 year mark in claret and blue.
“Ten years is a long time, and I’ve loved every minute of it here,” he confessed to the official site. “I’m delighted that I’m going to be here for at least another season. Me and my family are very happy down here. My son and daughter were both born here – my boy at Queen’s Hospital down the road in Romford – and he is West Ham mad.”
“I think there are similarities between east London and Liverpool, in terms of the environment of hard work, commitment and giving everything you’ve got, and I like to think I’ve shown that during my time here. Every time I put the jersey on it means a lot to represent the Club. This year has been a bit of a change in role – I haven’t played as much, but I’ve been in football a long time to understand that there is a bigger picture than just playing every week. I’d like to think I’ve done that well when not playing, supporting the team and the lads.”
In particular, it’s his relationship with the fans which has kept him at the club so long and he is hopeful that the is new era under Julen Lopetegui will keep West Ham moving in the right direction.
“It’s been a great ride so far,” he continued, “and I’m looking forward to continuing playing for the fans and giving everything for the Club. I’ve got huge respect for the supporters, who have backed me during the good times and the bad times.”
“I’ll never forget when I got sent-off against Eintracht Frankfurt in the UEFA Europa League [semi-final] two years ago, and not knowing what it was going to be like at Norwich in the next game. It was probably the hardest build-up to a game I’ve ever had, but the fans sang my name in the warm-up, which just put me at ease and showed their class.”
“This Club means a lot to me and I’ll continue to make the most of every opportunity I’m given. We’ve built on our foundations in the past three or four years, and we’re in a good place now. Normally when there’s a change in management you’re starting at a low point, but we’re looking up, and we want to keep progressing.”
“As a senior player, I hope I can assist the transition of the new head coach coming in, and help pull everyone in the same direction to ensure we continue building and heading towards where we want to be.”
Cresswell doesn’t always get the respect he deserves, but he is certainly someone who will be remembered fondly when he does eventually leave. If for nothing else, he should go down as a West Ham legend purely for his loyalty. Aside from that though, he just got what it meant to wear the shirt since day one and he has been an unbelievable player over the years. Congratulations to Cresswell on the new contract and let’s hope he can continue to deliver us more special memories.
