Glenn Roeder insists that if the club do reluctantly accede to
Trevor Sinclair's transfer request he would only go if the
price was right.
But he reiterates that that would be a worst case scenario, pointing out it is "nearly impossible" to buy a current England international, which Trevor is almost certain to become in the upcoming friendly against Sweden.
There is no time scale for a decision to be made on the situation, with Glenn and his players - including, of course, Trevor - concentrating on preparations for the Blackburn game.
"The next step is quite simple," says Glenn.
"The transfer request will be looked at by the chairman and the board of directors and obviously a decision has to be made as to whether the transfer request is accepted.
"If it is accepted, the next issue to be addressed would be the amount of money in terms of a transfer fee that would be acceptable.
"All I will say at this particular time about that is it is nearly impossible to buy an England international at the prime of life, the age of 28.
"So if the worst was to happen and he was to leave he would be very expensive.
"I'm as confident as you can be that in the near future Trevor Sinclair will be capped as an England international.
"And when you look at the England squad that was put together for the England game against Greece, there are very few players in that squad that you could buy.
"Even if they were available they would be very expensive in the current market.
"But we can only cross that bridge if we agree to allow him to leave, and without doubt I would rather keep the player."
He cites the example of Frank Lampard's £11m departure as being a similar scenario, in that having the money is one thing, but spending it is another.
"You can see how difficult it was for me to spend Frank Lampard's money," says Glenn.
"It seemed to take an eternity to find the players that I thought would improve the quality of the squad.
"In the end the three largest buys - David James, who admittedly has yet to wear a West Ham shirt, Tomas Repka, who was very impressive on his home debut, and Don Hutchison, who I have been very pleased with - have shown their worth, and I am pleased with the way the money has been spent.
"I have a lot of confidence that when we spend money we can buy players of sufficient quality to play for West Ham.
"It can take a long time to prise the better players away from their clubs and transfers of this magnitude don't happen in a day or a week."
He insists, however, that he does not hold a grudge against Trevor, and stresses:
"We have got to be adult about this; these things happen, and they don't only happen at West Ham, they happen at all clubs.
"There is a very high profile player at one of the biggest clubs in the country stating that he wants to leave his club while under contract.
" But I'm sure the fans share the same disappointment that we are having once Trevor told us he wanted to leave."
If Trevor was eventually sold, Glenn stresses that he would seek to bring in quality rather than quantity.
"What is the key issue, if the worst was to happen and he was to leave, is the quality of the player you bring in with the money that is then made available," he says.
"The important thing is that when you sell a big name player the money is not wasted on players of insufficient talent.
"The major factor is ability; if you are shrewd enough to buy four with sufficient ability you deserve a pat on the back.
"But if you buy four who don't have the ability to wear the West Ham shirt you are in trouble."
Whatever happens next, however, Glenn insists will be for the benefit of the club, and he adds:
"I would want it to be resolved in the way that is best for West Ham, and if that means Trevor changing his mind in the next week we will all be very pleased - but I'm not confident that will happen.
"If it means we end up losing Trevor the supporters are going to have to back me to be able to bring in players that are of at least of the same ability.
"If he is to leave he will only leave at a price that is acceptable to us as he is our player and he is under contract.
"We would need a wide player to replace him and maybe one or two in other positions that still need filling.
"Supporters are going to have to trust me that I can do it."
But Glenn cannot disguise the sadness he feels at the possible departure of a player just about to embark on an England career.
"It is a blow for everyone at the club," he admits.
"The chairman wants to keep him and has enjoyed him being at West Ham.
"Obviously the players will be disappointed as well because we know what an important player Trevor has been for us.
"We all want to keep him, but we have to listen to individuals' wishes.
"He has made a big decision in his life, putting it in writing; it shows the seriousness of it and the way he feels.
"We will wait and see what develops over the next few days.
"But there is no doubt, having spoken to him twice now in the last couple of weeks, that these feelings have certainly run for a lot longer period than since I have taken over."
But he reiterates that that would be a worst case scenario, pointing out it is "nearly impossible" to buy a current England international, which Trevor is almost certain to become in the upcoming friendly against Sweden.
There is no time scale for a decision to be made on the situation, with Glenn and his players - including, of course, Trevor - concentrating on preparations for the Blackburn game.
"The next step is quite simple," says Glenn.
"The transfer request will be looked at by the chairman and the board of directors and obviously a decision has to be made as to whether the transfer request is accepted.
"If it is accepted, the next issue to be addressed would be the amount of money in terms of a transfer fee that would be acceptable.
"All I will say at this particular time about that is it is nearly impossible to buy an England international at the prime of life, the age of 28.
"So if the worst was to happen and he was to leave he would be very expensive.
"I'm as confident as you can be that in the near future Trevor Sinclair will be capped as an England international.
"And when you look at the England squad that was put together for the England game against Greece, there are very few players in that squad that you could buy.
"Even if they were available they would be very expensive in the current market.
"But we can only cross that bridge if we agree to allow him to leave, and without doubt I would rather keep the player."
He cites the example of Frank Lampard's £11m departure as being a similar scenario, in that having the money is one thing, but spending it is another.
"You can see how difficult it was for me to spend Frank Lampard's money," says Glenn.
"It seemed to take an eternity to find the players that I thought would improve the quality of the squad.
"In the end the three largest buys - David James, who admittedly has yet to wear a West Ham shirt, Tomas Repka, who was very impressive on his home debut, and Don Hutchison, who I have been very pleased with - have shown their worth, and I am pleased with the way the money has been spent.
"I have a lot of confidence that when we spend money we can buy players of sufficient quality to play for West Ham.
"It can take a long time to prise the better players away from their clubs and transfers of this magnitude don't happen in a day or a week."
He insists, however, that he does not hold a grudge against Trevor, and stresses:
"We have got to be adult about this; these things happen, and they don't only happen at West Ham, they happen at all clubs.
"There is a very high profile player at one of the biggest clubs in the country stating that he wants to leave his club while under contract.
" But I'm sure the fans share the same disappointment that we are having once Trevor told us he wanted to leave."
If Trevor was eventually sold, Glenn stresses that he would seek to bring in quality rather than quantity.
"What is the key issue, if the worst was to happen and he was to leave, is the quality of the player you bring in with the money that is then made available," he says.
"The important thing is that when you sell a big name player the money is not wasted on players of insufficient talent.
"The major factor is ability; if you are shrewd enough to buy four with sufficient ability you deserve a pat on the back.
"But if you buy four who don't have the ability to wear the West Ham shirt you are in trouble."
Whatever happens next, however, Glenn insists will be for the benefit of the club, and he adds:
"I would want it to be resolved in the way that is best for West Ham, and if that means Trevor changing his mind in the next week we will all be very pleased - but I'm not confident that will happen.
"If it means we end up losing Trevor the supporters are going to have to back me to be able to bring in players that are of at least of the same ability.
"If he is to leave he will only leave at a price that is acceptable to us as he is our player and he is under contract.
"We would need a wide player to replace him and maybe one or two in other positions that still need filling.
"Supporters are going to have to trust me that I can do it."
But Glenn cannot disguise the sadness he feels at the possible departure of a player just about to embark on an England career.
"It is a blow for everyone at the club," he admits.
"The chairman wants to keep him and has enjoyed him being at West Ham.
"Obviously the players will be disappointed as well because we know what an important player Trevor has been for us.
"We all want to keep him, but we have to listen to individuals' wishes.
"He has made a big decision in his life, putting it in writing; it shows the seriousness of it and the way he feels.
"We will wait and see what develops over the next few days.
"But there is no doubt, having spoken to him twice now in the last couple of weeks, that these feelings have certainly run for a lot longer period than since I have taken over."