West Ham United have endured an underwhelming campaign and Graham Potter has now made it clear that a mass clearout is en route at the London Stadium.
West Ham United's frustrating campaign set to yield squad changes
Despite comfortably staving off the threat of relegation, West Ham have fallen some way below expectation and Potter hasn’t been able to improve their fortunes in his opening period at the club.
The 49-year-old saw shoots of improvement going forward in the Hammers’ 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth, but they simply haven’t been prolific enough across the season to merit anything more than a bottom-half finish.
Eager to avoid a repeat of this inconsistency come 2025/26, Potter has set his sights on Sunderland midfielder Chris Rigg and his side are now said to be in pole position to bring in the England youth international.
Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are also in pursuit. However, there is plenty of hope to be taken should the Black Cats opt to cash in if they fail to win promotion to the Premier League.
Exciting reports have also claimed that West Ham are in the mix to sign Lyon forward Georges Mikautadze, albeit they may need to fight it out with Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers for the Georgian star.
Evan Ferguson is likely to leave following the conclusion of his loan spell at Brighton & Hove Albion, making the forward line an area in need of nourishment once the window opens.
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Departures will be needed to fund a rebuild that many are in favour of under Potter’s guise, so who could leave to make way for fresh reinforcements?
West Ham ready for mass clearout as Graham Potter gets to work
According to Football Insider, West Ham could offload ten players this summer to make way for new assets at the London Stadium. Guido Rodriguez, Niclas Fullkrug, Emerson Palmieri, and Michail Antonio are all said to be ‘surplus to requirements’ and may be sacrificed.
Meanwhile, Danny Ings, Vladimir Coufal, Aaron Cresswell and Lukasz Fabianski are all set to depart once their contracts expire in the summer.
Carlos Soler isn’t expected to complete a permanent move to the Hammers from Paris Saint-Germain, while Maxwel Cornet’s pay packet will be severed if he completes a move elsewhere after returning from a loan spell at Genoa.
West Ham United’s next five fixtures
Liverpool (A)
Premier League
Southampton (H)
Premier League
Brighton & Hove Albion (A)
Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur (H)
Premier League
Manchester United (A)
Premier League
Overall, their combined wages would free up £745,000 per week for Potter to put towards other targets. Most fans would agree that this season hasn’t gone to plan, so there wouldn’t be too many complaints if the ex-Chelsea boss were to recoup some financial capital before embarking on a spending spree.
Whether West Ham manage to shift everyone mentioned is up for debate, though there is plenty of serviceable talent there that could command suitors from across Europe.