Portas's Wood deal ticks down: £14k-a-week ace has six months left

Six months. That's all that stands between Luis Portas and the exit door at Meadow Park.

The Boreham Wood man is out of contract on 30 June, and as of today the club haven't sorted a new deal. That's a £14,000-a-week talent who could walk for nothing.

Portas is 27, in his prime, and after 18 games this season he's clearly part of the furniture. Well, sort of. Six starts, one goal — but the gaffer keeps picking him, and the dressing room loves him.

He's delighted with life at Wood. Properly chuffed. You can see it in the way he bounces into training, the way he jokes with Alex Gorski and Mark Walsh on the backroom staff. The boy's at home.

But football's a business, and Boreham Wood know the clock is ticking. Let his deal run down and they're handing a rival a free hit. No fee, no sell-on, nothing.

And it's not just Portas. Barry Murray's contract expires the same day. Christian Stones's big money deal is up too, as this paper flagged before Christmas. The club have got decisions to make all over the pitch.

For Portas, the question is simple: does he fancy staying? The club's got the cash — everyone knows that. Over a billion in the bank, apparently. But they've never been ones to splash it about. They'll weigh up his role, his age, his wage demands.

He's been at ten clubs already. Boreham Wood gave him a home when he was without one in the summer of '62, and he's given them 66 games and six goals since. Not earth-shattering numbers, but he's a grafter. A player's player.

If Wood want to keep him, they've got six months to make it happen. If not, the vultures will start circling. And a 27-year-old English attacking midfielder on a free? That's a deal someone will fancy.

Tick tock, Boreham Wood. Tick tock.