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Mark Noble closes on signing one-year contract extension at West Ham

Mark Noble is close to signing a new one-year deal with West Ham, ending the prospect of the midfielder leaving his boyhood club on a free transfer this summer.

Noble has been at West Ham for his entire career, apart from two brief loan periods in 2006 He has risen up the ranks to establish himself as club captain and does not want to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season. The 33-year-old has held talks over an extension in recent months and is expected to put pen to paper soon.

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Noble, who turns 34 in May, has been a dependable figure since making his debut for West Ham in 2004. Although his role for the first team has become more limited this season, he remains an influential figure. David Moyes, West Ham’s manager, values the veteran’s leadership and has suggested that there could be a role for him at the London Stadium once he retires.

It is a measure of Noble’s standing at the club that he has been offered a new deal despite publicly criticising the decision to sell Grady Diangana to West Brom last September. Noble supported West Ham as a boy, came through the club’s academy before reaching the first team and did not ask for a transfer when the east Londoners were relegated from the Premier League in 2011, choosing to stay and help them win promotion a year later. He is known to be particularly supportive of young players.

He made his 500th appearance for West Ham against Watford last July. This season, however, he has made only three starts in the league, with Moyes relying on Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek in central midfield.