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West Ham manager Rehanne Skinner says short-term contracts in the Women's Super League is an "issue" that needs addressing.

The club have lost seven players on permanent transfers this summer, all of whom were regular members of the first-team squad.

Among them were Australia goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, Japan internationals Risa Shimizu and Honoka Hayashi and former vice-captain Hawa Cissoko - all were on two-year deals which expired.

It meant the club did not receive transfer fees and lost some of their best players, having to work hard on recruitment this summer to replace them.

"It's a conversation I had with the club - something we needed to iron out and put in place. Short-term contracts have been an issue for sustainability," said Skinner.

"We know the turnover has been quite high in the club previously. I'm trying to support the management of that and even that out a lot better - for the fans and the sustainability of the team.

"[It's about] having a better structure around contract lengths and for when people are coming out of their contracts too."

Skinner says there's a collective need to be "good in a business sense" to get the most out of talent developed at West Ham.

"There's good, quality players that have gone through the club," she added.

"We want to make sure that everything the club has invested in them, we can get a return on [financially] as well as what the players are offering us while at the club.

"We need to look at both sides of that and it's something that has to be factored in moving forward."

This summer, West Ham have signed five players on three-year deals and Skinner says she hopes the club can create "stability" for fans going forward.

"Last season we were doing a lot of work on trying to put foundations in place. We appreciate they have seen a lot of change," she said.

"We want to create that stability this year so they really have something to root for. I think we showed our identity last year and what we’re trying to achieve."