There are no major confirmed post-relegation player sales yet, but several exits are being heavily discussed.
West Ham’s relegation is confirmed. Sunday’s games decided it, and The Hammers’ 3-0 over Leeds was never going to be enough if Spurs won their game against Everton, which they did, 1-0. West Ham needed Tottenham to lose, but that deciding 1-0 win ended West Ham’s 14-year stay in the Premier League.
They finished 18th with 39 points, only 2 points away from Spurs, but even if they did stay in the Premier League, the issues at London Stadium are glaringly obvious. Nuno Espirito Santo leading the team since September wasn’t enough to keep them in the top flight, and most people will agree it was the humbling 3-0 opening-day defeat at Sunderland at the beginning of the season that paved the way for disaster after disaster.
And following an awful run of 8 winless games with Potter before Nuno took over, the damage was well and truly done.
So, they’re relegated, and now attention is turning to who is staying and who’s going, with leading men like Jarrod Bowen still having a question mark over their heads.
The West Ham 25/26 Season Story
West Ham weren’t relegated because they completely collapsed in the final weeks. It was an ongoing struggle throughout the season, literally from the opening game against Sunderland. Even a sports betting platform built for SA was putting awful odds for West Ham to lose games.
But what’s interesting is that they were relegated with a points total that would often be enough to survive. They finished on 39 points, well above the average survival mark of 34.5 points since the league moved to 20 clubs.
West Ham were bad, yes, but a strangely competitive relegation battle punished them. BBC Sport reported before the final stretch that West Ham’s own form was not that disastrous, with the Hammers sitting 11th in the six-game form table, but Nottingham Forest, Leeds and Spurs all picked up points at the worst possible time for them. Well, the start of the season was awful, but under Nuno, the performance improved.
Who’s Staying in West Ham After Relegation?
Now to get into it, let’s look at who’s likely to stay, who’s confirmed to be going, who’s staying, and who’s still got everyone rumouring.
Nuno is staying (for now)
Nuno has confirmed he’s staying despite the relegation. West Ham confirmed it this week after holding meetings with the head coach, with the board still believing in his leadership despite relegation.
At least that gives The Hammers some continuity, and the club is clearly going to head into the new season with an immediate promotion push, and keeping the continuity with Nuno is the best option for that. And Nuno has Championship promotion pedigree from his Wolves spell, so there’s no point bringing in someone new now, and West Ham will know it wasn’t Nuno’s fault that they’ve been relegated.
If you look at the final 17 games for The Hammers under Nuno, they took home 25 points, which, if they’d averaged that run of wins all season, would be equivalent to seventh over a full season.
Transfer rumours and likely exits
So, there aren’t any major confirmed exits, but there definitely are a few rumoured exits.
- Mateus Fernandes: He’s linked with PSG, Manchester United, and Arsenal after a really strong season, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he did jump ship. According to the BBC, he ‘seems certain to move on’, and West Ham hope to make a profit on the £40m they paid.
- El Hadji Malick Diouf: There are strong links to Manchester United, with Transfermarkt and The Guardian both praising him as a strong Premier League-level asset after a good debut season.
- Crysencio Summerville: There are talks of a potential move to other Prem clubs, including Spurs and Leeds, and we’ll likely hear something about him very soon.
- Aaron Wan-Bissaka: The rumour mill says there’s Everton and Newcastle interest, with TalkSPORT saying Everton are preparing a £10m bid after relegation.
Is Jarrod Bowen Leaving West Ham?
If Danny Dyer has anything to do with it (the father-in-law of Jarrod Bowen and a die-hard Hammers fan), then he won’t.
But money talks more than the threat of a father-in-law does, and he’s the crown jewel of the squad, making him by far one of their most saleable assets. There’s hope from inside the club that he will stay and lead a promotion charge.
He is captain, contracted long-term, and symbolically important. But relegated clubs often have to cash in on their most valuable players, and Transfermarkt is putting out rumours of Everton, Liverpool and Newcastle interest.
Bowen is not guaranteed to leave, but let’s see what happens.
We’re so close to finding out who will stay and who will go. Within a few weeks, we should know which transfer rumours were true and who’s staying to help The Hammers return to the top flight. Let’s just hope Bown stays to make it happen.
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