West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell won three awards at the West Ham Player Awards last night: Hammer of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year, and Signing of the Season. It has never been clearer that the Hammer of the Year is a must-keep player for the Hammers.

Cresswell is well deserving of such honors, not missing a single minute of Premier League action this season. He edged out top goal scorer Diafra Sakho and Barcelona loanee Alex Song to be named Signing of the Season. Along with defending, Cresswell added to the attack with 2 goals and 4 assists. His strong left foot beat Newcastle 1-0 late in November and helped West Ham draw 1-1 to Stoke City off of an amazing free kick curled perfectly into the top corner of the net.

The left-back’s superb debut season for the East London club has brought on interest from the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City.

Both are in the market for a new left-back. City could be looking to sell Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov, and Filipe Luis’s Chelsea future is in doubt as well.

“Obviously it’s nice to see things like that,” Cresswell said on being linked with Chelsea and Manchester City. “But I have four years left on my West Ham contract and I’m very happy down here. I don’t read into it or look into stuff like that. I just concentrate on doing my best for West Ham,” the 25-year-old said.

West Ham need to keep the reliable Hammer, who was bought only last summer from Ipswich Town for an undisclosed fee. West Ham are a club known for selling Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Glen Johnson and Frank Lampard a decade ago, but in order to advance to the next level, Cresswell’s future at the club must be ensured.

Moving to the Olympic Stadium in 2016 is a step to grow as a club, but the hope would be to build a strong squad to bring European football into Stratford, East London. While a bid of more than £15 million would be appealing to the club, it would be a step backward. Cresswell is a player now proven to be reliable and bring results for the club. The last thing needed with the uncertainty of management would be to cash in on one of the most promising young stars at West Ham.

Other awards for the West Ham Player Awards night include the Goal of the Season award to Enner Valencia against Hull City. The stunning strike from distance was his first goal in the claret and blue of West Ham.

Also, the best team performance was the 2-1 win over Manchester City back in October. The individual performance of the season went to Chiek Kouyate for his performance against Manchester United in February. The Young Hammer of the Year award went to Reece Burke, who started the last 2 matches at only 18-years-old, leading the Hammers to consecutive clean sheets against QPR and Burnley. And of course, the Save of the Season award went to Adrian for his save against Chelsea, stopping an Oscar free kick.