West Ham United manager Julen Lopetegui could wave goodbye to one high-earning member of his squad in the January transfer window, according to a report this week.
Players who could leave West Ham in 2025
Tim Steidten and co have a few key decisions to make in regard to certain players as we approach 2025, with a fair few out of contract next summer.
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Striker Danny Ings, defender Vladimir Coufal, forward Michail Antonio, left-back Aaron Cresswell and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski will all leave for nothing next summer, with many players currently out on loan also facing uncertain futures.
James Ward-Prowse, Maxwel Cornet, Nayef Aguerd and Kurt Zouma are currently away on temporary spells at Nottingham Forest, Southampton, Real Sociedad and Al-Shabab respectively, and it remains to be seen whether the quartet have a long-term future at the London Stadium.
West Ham summer signings
From
Fee (Transfermarkt)
Maximilian Kilman
Wolves
€47.5m
Crysencio Summerville
Leeds United
€29.3m
Niclas Fullkrug
Borussia Dortmund
€27m
Luis Guilherme
Palmeiras
€23m
Mohamadou Kante
Paris FC
Undisclosed
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Man Utd
€18m
Wes Foderingham
Sheffield United
Free transfer
Guido Rodriguez
Real Betis
Free transfer
Jean-Clair Todibo
Nice
Loan transfer
Carlos Soler
PSG
Loan transfer
West Ham summer departures
To
Fee (Transfermarkt)
Flynn Downes
Southampton
€17.85m
James Ward-Prowse
Nottingham Forest
Loan
Maxwel Cornet
Southampton
Loan
Nayef Aguerd
Real Sociedad
Loan
Kurt Zouma
Al-Shabab
Loan
Said Benrahma
Lyon
€14.4m
Angelo Ogbonna
Watford
Free transfer
Thilo Kehrer
Monaco
€11m
Nathan Trott
FC Copenhagen
€1.5m
Ben Johnson
Ipswich Town
Free transfer
Joseph Anang
St Patrick’s Athletic
Free transfer
One player who is certainly happy to have left West Ham is Aguerd, who recently thanked the east Londoners for green-lighting his temporary deal at Sociedad, so perhaps a permanent exit is inevitable for the Moroccan.
“Thanks to the club (West Ham) for giving me the opportunity to leave,” said Aguerd on his West Ham exit.
“Because I wanted to try something new, and I wanted to play in LaLiga and doing so in a club like Real is perfect. That’s why I speak Spanish so well, because since I was little, I wanted to learn it to play in LaLiga one day.”
As West Ham look at signing a striker in January, it is now believed new signing Niclas Fullkrug could depart the club, amid a lacklustre start to his Hammers career blighted by an Achilles tendon injury.
West Ham could now sell Niclas Fullkrug in January
Fullkrug is currently in Germany for treatment on his injury, and a report from Kicker (via Sport Witness) claims Lopetegui’s side may opt to cut their losses on the £100,000-per-week forward already.
It is believed West Ham could look to sell Fullkrug in January already, and the player himself is contemplating a “fresh start” away from the Premier League.
Reports of his potential winter sale just over two months into his West Ham career are perhaps premature, and if that does come to fruition, the £27 million paid to sign him from Borussia Dortmund would be seen as a real waste of time – despite Fullkrug’s quality when available.
“I’m a fan of Niclas Fullkrug,” said pundit Ally McCoist told TNT Sports.
“Nothing wrong with an old-fashioned centre forward that can play. Every time I’ve seen Fullkrug, he’s impressed me. His game knowledge is good, his touch is excellent, he can finish, he’s aggressive. I think he’s a good player.”