Two West Ham United players who featured in the draw against Fulham are now set to be deemed surplus to requirements and sold in the next transfer window, according to a recent report, just four games into Julen Lopetegui‘s reign.
West Ham’s tricky start
After being one of the Premier League‘s most active sides over the summer transfer window, it has been an underwhelming start to life under Lopetegui’s management at the London Stadium.
Four games into the season, the Hammers have hardly set the Premier League alight. They currently sit 14th in the league with just a single win to their name, coming against Crystal Palace.
A tough fixture list means that they have tasted defeat at the hands of reigning champions Manchester City and European hopefuls Aston Villa, both at the London Stadium.
But perhaps more concerning was their performance against Fulham, with Lopetegui’s side seeing less of the ball than their hosts, as well as having fewer shots on target and fewer touches inside the opposition penalty area, hardly hallmarks of an upwardly mobile Premier League side as the Hammers are looking to be.
West Ham | Fulham | |
Possession | 45.5% | 55.5% |
Shots | 21 | 11 |
Shots on target | 5 | 3 |
Touches inside the opposition box | 29 | 13 |
Blocked shots | 3 | 8 |
They were rescued deep into stoppage time by Danny Ings, who was found inside the Fulham penalty area by Jarrod Bowen before firing low into the corner past Bernd Leno to salvage a point for the visitors.
And changes are already being planned by Lopetegui as he looks ahead to January, with Ings among those who could depart.
West Ham pair could leave in January
That comes courtesy of a report from Football Insider, who claim that both Ings and Michail Antonio could both be allowed to leave in January as the Hammers look to continue their rebuild.
Antonio led the line for the first half against Fulham in the absence of summer signing Niklas Fullkrug, while Ings came off the bench to score.
However, the report suggests that the duo, who are set to be free agents next summer, could be shifted in the next transfer window.
This is because their exits would “free up some space within the squad” as well as helping “lower the wage bill”, with Antonio taking home £100,000 a week at the London Stadium, while Ings is on an even more lucrative £125,000 a week contract.
Signing a new striker is seen as a “top priority” at the London Stadium, with previous links to Jhon Duran over the summer before a deal broke down. Though they ultimately signed Fullkrug, they are keen to add another forward to their ranks to complement the quality in wide areas already at the club.
Should they be able to find buyers for either Ings or Antonio, it could have the added benefit of adding more funds to the transfer kitty available to Lopetegui, who spent freely in the summer and is yet to see any early returns on that investment, though performances are only likely to improve as his new signings begin to gel.
