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 wondering 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.
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. Allardyce was 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.
"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.
"(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."