West Ham confirm exciting reason four senior stars were released in transfer update from the top..
West Ham caught some fans by surprise when they announced the huge decision to release four leading senior stars but the reason is very exciting indeed.
There will be a changing of the guard at West Ham this summer.
The Hammers have announced that Aaron Cresswell, Lukasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal and Danny Ings will be leaving the London Stadium when their contracts expire next month.
Between them the quartet have a cumulative age of 139 – but have also amassed over 700 appearances for West Ham in a combined 25 years of service.
Game time has been harder to come by for all four this season, despite West Ham’s woeful campaign.
Cresswell has impressed as a left-sided centre-back since Graham Potter’s arrival, though, and there were rumours he could be handed a new one-year deal.
Changing of the guard at West Ham
But West Ham have taken the decision the Liverpudlian’s stay in east London, after joining for a bargain £3.5m from Ipswich, will come to an end after 11 years.
Coufal, a £5m buy from Slavia Prague in 2020, was denied a move to Fulham in January and has not been happy about his contract situation for some time.
But the ageing Czech right-back with a warrior spirit has been displaced by the brilliant Aaron Wan-Bissaka – who is set to be named Hammer of the Year.
While Coufal never let anyone down when wearing the claret and blue, he will now move on to pastures new.
Potter has made it clear Alphonse Areola is West Ham’s number one. But like Cresswell, many expected Fabianski might be offered another one-year contract to continue as experienced back-up.
Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images
Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images.
The 40-year-old will bring the curtain down on a seven-year spell which cements him as one of – if not the – best goalkeepers in West Ham’s history.
Ings’ face has never truly fit at the club since he arrived on a two-and-a-half-year deal from Aston Villa for £15m.
The forward rarely played under David Moyes or Julen Lopetegui but even less so under Potter.
Ings turns 33 in July and has scored just five goals in 69 appearances.
The news has received mixed reactions among West Ham fans.
Many think it is the right time to move, even if it is sad to see the stalwarts leave.
Others believe letting so many influential leadership figures depart in the wake of losing Kurt Zouma, Declan Rice and Mark Noble in successive summers could have grave consequences.
West Ham confirm exciting reason four senior stars released
Beyond captain Jarrod Bowen, there is a feeling among some supporters that there will be a lack of players who get what it means to play for West Ham.
Time will tell if they are the right calls.
But West Ham have confirmed the exciting reason four senior stars were released in a transfer update from the top.
West Ham fans following early rumours ahead of the window opening in three weeks will have noticed a very distinct shift in the profile of player being targeted.
The Hammers have entered talks for two elite young midfielders as Potter looks to overhaul the team’s biggest problem area.
West Ham have also been linked with a top young full-back amid the news Coufal is leaving.
And it seems many supporters are going to get what they have craved for some time.
Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
Why West Ham are letting Cresswell, Coufal, Fabianski and Ings leave
The Hammers are finally going to be rebuilding the team around top young talent.
Potter has made it clear he wants to trim down West Ham’s squad.
The Englishman says the squad has too many players, making it harder to foster a proper team spirit and togetherness.
Especially with no European football to give everyone regular minutes.
Potter insists the departing quartet are not bad eggs at West Ham after he hit out at certain players who are refusing to change their ways.
Hammers News asked the top spokesman for West Ham’s owners about the reason behind the decision to let Cresswell, Fabianski, Coufal and Ings leave.
And the answer will excite supporters as it marks the start of the Potter and Kyle Macaulay revolution.
West Ham transfer update from the top
“It is impossible to say at this time how many signings we will make, but hopefully it is going to be a minimum of three to five, possibly more,” the top London Stadium spokesman told Hammers News.
“We feel it is the right time and call on the four released players, who have all been great pros for us.
“But it is all part of our plan to reinvent the squad around exciting younger talent.”
That is what was promised by Tim Steidten last summer but he failed to deliver as he and Lopetegui conspired to take the Premier League’s second oldest squad and make it the oldest.
Now Potter and Macaulay are actually doing something about it, starting with the difficult decision to let the ageing quartet leave for a brave new era.
A key factor for West Ham in the release of the four players is the easing of the PSR burden too.
Wages to turnover ratio forms a central part of satisfying PSR regulations.
The Hammers are cutting £300,000 per week from their wage bill by releasing the four senior players.
That’s £1.2m a month and £14.5m a year combined.
Hammers News understands West Ham’s top priority is at least one, if not two strikers depending on Niclas Fullkrug’s future, a central defender, two midfielders and a versatile full-back.
A new goalkeeper will also now be needed. But whether Potter wants to sign a new number one or back-up for Areola remains to be seen.
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