62,000 witness the ‘changing of the guard’ at London Stadium

Quite possibly, the old and the new were both on show at London Stadium yesterday, and the new outshone the old. One of West Ham’s long serving out-of-contract summer departures played quite possibly his last full game in Claret and Blue against the Saints, and his likely replacement, rumoured to be taking his place, had a pretty decent 90 minutes.

After moving to east London in October 2020, Vlad Coufal will see his contract 0ut as a Hammer at the end of next month. It is not going to be renewed so the brilliantly loyal Czech will be on his way after some one hundred and forty two Premier League appearances and of course a winners medal in the ECL.

His will be an illustrious Hammers career although yesterday’s performance is best forgotten as soon as possible. Better to reflect on the better games, thank Vlad warmly and send him on his way.

We read that it is more than likely his replacement will be Kyle Walker-Peters on a ‘free’ transfer when his Southampton employment finishes this summer.  Another player at the end of his contract, Walker Peters will be an instant upgrade to the Hammers’ back line if reports are true and West Ham are ahead in the race to sign him in the summer.

Both he and Wan-Bissaka can play in both left and right sided full back positions – and from Walker Peters’ decent performance yesterday its is quite clear the Hammers will be getting a massive Coufal upgrade.

Both were on show yesterday in a ‘changing of the guard’ episode at London Stadium, and the potential new recruit outshone the old warrior. Which is just as it should be.