• ‘Scott is not for sale at any price, to anyone,’ says Sullivan
• ‘This is a new era. We are building a bigger, better West Ham’

West Ham United have confirmed that they have rejected an offer from Tottenham for Scott Parker, with the chairman David Sullivan insisting the midfielder is not for sale at any price.

The 29-year-old England international has been linked with a summer move away from Upton Park, with White Hart Lane a possible destination to join up with the former Hammers manager Harry Redknapp.

But Sullivan told www.whufc.com: “I made a promise that I would not sell Scott and I will not, for any amount of money, break that promise to the West Ham supporters.

“Scott is not for sale at any price, to anyone. West Ham supporters, for far too long, have had owners that sell their best players and promise one thing and do another.

“This is a new era. We are building a bigger, better West Ham and when we make a promise, we honour it.”

The club’s website continued in a statement: “The club would like to state that regardless of the size of the bid, nothing will break the promise that chairman David Sullivan made to our supporters.

“As repeatedly stated, Scott Parker is not for sale and there are no circumstances and no amount of money that will cause us to break that pledge to the fans.

“The club informed Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy prior to him making the offer that we would not welcome any approach to unsettle the player. Scott Parker has three years left on his contract and the club has opened talks with his agent over a new five-year deal.”

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• Spurs become first Premier League team to impose ban
• Club concerned about safety implications

Tottenham Hotspur have become the first Premier League club to ban vuvuzelas from their ground. A number of Football League sides have already barred the controversial instruments from their stadiums and Spurs have now followed suit.

The Premier League said during the World Cup – where the noise made by vuvuzelas was one of the main talking points – that it would be left to individual clubs to decide whether to outlaw them.

Spurs said in a statement on their website: “Following discussions with the police and representatives from the local licensing authorities, the club will not be permitting vuvuzelas or similar instruments into White Hart Lane on match days.

“We are concerned that the presence of the instruments within the stadium pose unnecessary risks to public safety and could impact on the ability of all supporters to hear any emergency safety announcements.

“We are very proud of the fantastic atmosphere that our supporters produce organically at White Hart Lane and we are all very much looking forward to this continuing into the forthcoming season.”

Tottenham Hotspurguardian.co.uk

• England midfielder released by Chelsea this summer
• ‘I signed Joe as an 11-year-old. He is outstanding’ – Redknapp

Harry Redknapp has confirmed his desire to bring Joe Cole to White Hart Lane this summer. Cole is a free agent after his contract with Chelsea expired and Redknapp is eager to be reunited with a player he worked with at West Ham United.

“I signed Joe as an 11-year-old at West Ham. I think he is an outstanding player, a great professional and a top player,” said the Spurs manager. “I would love to have Joe at Tottenham, but there are lots of clubs in for him. We will have to wait and see, we are not close to doing anything with Joe really.”

Jermain Defoe is also keen to work with Cole again, having been impressed by the 28-year-old as the pair trained together with England at the World Cup.

“When we were in South Africa [you could see] every day his passion and his drive to want to improve,” the striker said. “In training he was sharp and he was strong, he just loves football. So if we could get someone like that at the club it would be good for everyone.”

Spurs have been linked with several players following their fourth-placed finish in the Premier League last season, which means they will enter the qualifying rounds for the Champions League.

The Uruguay striker Diego Forlán is another reported target but Redknapp is not hopeful of signing the player from Atlético Madrid.

“He [Forlán] is a player I would like but he may be out of our range,” he said. “He has had an outstanding World Cup, there aren’t too many players who did better than Forlán at the World Cup, he is a top player.”

Tottenham Hotspurguardian.co.uk