Sam Allardyce admits he was wrong to claim Winston Reid had been tapped up after the West Ham defender finally penned a fresh contract with the club . Talks between the Hammers and Reid had been ongoing for several months , with reported interest from the likes of Liverpool , Tottenham and Arsenal leaving many West Ham supporters on tenterhooks over the future of their New Zealand international . Allardyce said in January that it was 'highly unlikely ' Reid had not already verbally agreed to leave Upton Park given that he was yet to sign a new contract and went on to suggest earlier this month that he needed to rope in the questioning techniques of Jack Bauer from television 's '24 ' to get an answer out of the player . Winston Reid signed a new six-and-a-half year deal West Ham last week after it appeared he would leave . Sam Allardyce had said it was unlikely that Reid had not verbally agreed to join another club . But the 26-year-old , who will miss Saturday 's trip to Arsenal through injury , has now signed a six-and-a-half-year contract to keep him tied down to the east London outfit - with Allardyce quick to admit he had misread the situation . ' I was wrong , so I admit that , ' he said when asked if he was surprised to see Reid sign a new deal having questioned whether he had been tapped up . 'For me , if somebody 's out of contract like that it would have all been done and dusted by the end of the season , even though it might not have been done and dusted from a paperwork point of view . 'His agent would have sorted out a deal somewhere or other in this country . I was probably more concerned about abroad because it could have been a pre-contract . The central defender had been linked with the likes of Tottenham and Arsenal before penning new contract . 'One of the bigger clubs in Europe could have seen what Winston has done here and said `` he 's the one for us '' and taken him abroad so I was obviously wrong . ' Allardyce believes a strong showing for West Ham this season would have helped convince Reid to stay put - insisting no club bigger than the Hammers had looked like making a move for his signature . 'It was the longest negotiation ever , ' he added . ' I think that in the end both parties are very , very pleased with the outcome . I think the big pull for Winston signing this time around is that we 've had a good season up until now that we need to finish off as strong as we can . Reid fights for the ball with Tottenham striker Harry Kane during the recent match at White Hart Lane . ' ( We are ) moving to the Olympic Stadium in 2016 , so where else is he going to get bigger than West Ham United ? 'Probably because nobody of a greater status than West Ham has actually taken up his position , he signs up with us , which we 're both delighted about . 'Winston has now been in that position for a considerable amount of time and he now sees West Ham as the best way forward for him and we 're absolutely delighted with that because it 's been a long , hard negotiation for him . 'It 's been well into more than a year of trying to come to an agreement in terms of the contract . Now the contract is secured for a period of time that takes Winston along and hopefully the club along to better things . '
Winston Reid signed new six-and-a-half year deal with West Ham last week . New Zealand international looked set to leave the club for free in summer . White Hart Lane had said it was unlikely Reid had n't agreed to join another club . But the West Ham boss has now admitted he was wrong to suggest that .