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West Ham have run into a lot of trouble this season but Valon Behrami says he won't desert them. Juventus are thought to be interested in a January move for Behrami, who played in Italy for Lazio before heading to Upton Park for £5million in July last year.
The Turin club sit second in Serie A and are enjoying Champions League football while the Hammers are languishing in the Premier League relegation zone and beset by financial problems.
Despite the contrast Behrami wants to stay a Hammer, particularly as he has only just come back from six months out with a serious knee injury.
"I don't want to leave West Ham," he said. "I enjoy my work here. This club have given me a lot, before, during and after my injury and I want to stay here and play for this club."
Behrami's all action style of play is certainly suited to the Premier League. In what is generally regarded as the most physically-demanding league in the world, the 24-year-old still stands out as a man who rarely stops.
In the draw against Arsenal last week the midfielder covered seven-and-a-half miles and was still substituted before the final whistle!
In a match against Hull last season his high intensity sprinting was measured officially as the most impressive in the Premier League.
Tomorrow, East London's answer to Road Runner, will be at it again, pounding out the miles at Sunderland's Stadium of Light.
"At the moment I am about 80 per cent fit," said the Kosovan-born Behrami, who could have become a top quality cross-country runner. Behrami's continued fitness is imperative to West Ham's renewed hopes of clawing their way out of trouble.
Last season, before the corresponding game at Sunderland, West Ham were in a similar position. They had gone seven games without a win and already some were questioning the club's appointment of the untried Gianfranco Zola as manager.
Behrami scored his first goal for the club that day, it proved to be the winner and West Ham - and Zola - never looked back. "I hope to do the same tomorrow because it would be so good for the team's confidence," he said.
"The Arsenal game was very strange because we went from the lowest point of the season when we were two goals down to the end, when we were at our highest point so far.
"At half time the psychology of the situation was very difficult. There were probably some players who didn't believe they could get a result but now we need to carry on."
The Switzerland international will never give up - his roots and upbringing have ensured that. His parents were born in Albania, settled in Mitrovica, Kosovo before moving to Stabio, in Switzerland, when he was four.
"My family and my friends are always important to me," he says. "These Kosovan people are always close to my heart. When I play I think of them and try to give more.
"I still have family there. I went back for a few days when I was injured and it did so much for my positivity. The war finished 10 years ago and the people there don't have much money but still everyone is smiling now.
"Here and in other countries, the life is so much better but there is often negativity and stress. This is very strange because in Kosovo things are much harder yet they are positive."
