West Ham confident Scott Parker will stay at Upton Park

West Ham remain confident that Scott Parker, the midfielder, will still be playing for the club next season. Aston Villa are reportedly planning to make a £10m bid for the Hammers' captain but David Sullivan, the club's co-owner, said: "I am extremely optimistic that we can persuade him to stay at Upton Park. He is the backbone of our rebuilding plans, the team's talisman. "No way do we want a rerun of last season when we finished on 35 points as normally that amount means you're relegated. "The last time I spoke to Scott [before the summer break] he was enthusiastic [about] staying. I guess he wants to hear about our plans for rebuilding. And at the moment we have not had any offers for him. We've just heard rumours, that's all."