Reports today suggest that West Ham United striker Dean Ashton is set to announce his shock retirement from football this week. Ashton, who suffered a broken ankle while training with England in 2006, has struggled to regain full fitness since the injury although he has made sporadic appearances after 11 months out of the game- battling back to score 11 goals in 35 league and cup appearances. 

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Despite putting pen to paper on a new five year deal in the summer the player has been sidelined for almost a year despite undergoing a course of rehabilitation with former Hammers physio John Green. This was stopped when a medical team from the club took him to see Dutch medical expert Niek Van Dijk, who told him that he could perform high- risk surgery to ease the pain. The club are said to be negotiating an insurance claim and pay off for Ashton.