West Ham co-chairman David Gold denies James Collins was informed of his release by email.

Gold also says Manuel Pellegrini could yet re-sign him.

He told talkSPORT: “I spoke to James after the [Everton] game.

“What the league and the FA demand is when you release a player you must send an email to them as well as a copy to the player – you have to do that.

“But I did speak to James and we had a conversation, so that's not quite true.

“It's not true when people are assuming that we just sent him an email."

Gold added: “Of course, we could still bring James back.

“It's the manager's decision, but we can reemploy James tomorrow. The manager will make that decision.

“But, I did speak with James at the end of the season on the basis that he might not be coming back because, if the new manager decides that James doesn't fit his requirements, than we must move on."