Neill told FourFourTwo Australia just last month that he planned to come back to play a part in the A-League.

He told the magazine: "Certainly for me, heading towards the end of my career, I definitely want to come back to the A-League and experience it."

But yesterday he told the media in the UK that he hoped to end his playing career at West Ham, and not in Australia.

He spoke out after hitting back at newspaper reports that he had demanded a pay rise on top of his current £70,000 a week package while the club is facing a financial crisis.

Neill insisted: "There's been no on-going negotiations. There's been no talk of how long, how much."

But he added: "It's just been a case of me saying I want to finish my career at West Ham.

"I know the situation with the club and the way things have gone. I love the club. I love the role that I have. I relish the challenge.

"It's just for me now being 31 in March it's about being able to play as long as I can. I've had assurances from the manager that he wants me to stay."

The Socceroo captain may now be simply planning to invest and run a West Sydney franchise in the A-League rather than actually playing for the club as a star attraction.

He also told FourFourTwo: "I’ve got a lot of passion for the game and I need to find something to do when I have finished playing the game.

"I’m trying to look into the possibility of being involved in an A-League franchise. It’s early days at the moment but I like the idea of it and I certainly think I’ve got something to offer as far as running a club.

"It’s something I’ll definitely not say no to..."

Yesterday Neill dismissed claims he was looking for megamoney to stay at West Ham as had been reported by The Times newspaper in the UK.

"My reaction was to laugh it off," he told Sky Sports. "Obviously because it's clearly untrue, but for 40,000 West Ham fans there is a different reaction. The first one is 'how dare he?' and 'how greedy'.

"When the time is right and when the time is right for the club, because it's not their priority at the moment, then we'll do it.

"It's just interesting all the things come out now which are totally untrue and unquoted. It doesn't affect me, but obviously it can sometimes influence people involved in the club."

Despite the club's poor recent results and low league placing, Neill insists the dressing room is still a happy camp.

"The players aren't worried. The immediate first-team squad is all really happy and really enjoying their football," he added.

"Inside the dressing room you can take it straight from me that no one's thinking about leaving. No one's talking about leaving.

"I can't speak from a financial or board point of view but from a player or coaching point of view the squad needs to stay together."