Lopetegui must axe West Ham man who earns more than Summerville & Todibo

West Ham United have reached remarkable heights over the past decade.

Under Slaven Bilic, east London enjoyed a taste of something more. Fuelled by the magic of Dimitri Payet, a seventh-placed Premier League finish was achieved. Fleeting success started to ebb away and Bilic was dismissed. His successor, Manuel Pellegrini, failed to produce the same level of result and he was dismissed too.

Then David Moyes came along. West Ham have now won the Conference League and enjoyed several campaigns in continental competitions, but Julen Lopetegui‘s start to life in the Irons dugout has left the fans wanting, despite the lucrative summer of spending.

West Ham’s summer transfer business

West Ham’s technical director, Tim Steidten, handed Lopetegui £120m worth of first-team talent this summer, with sights set on returning to the top after Moyes’ contract expired.

One win and little inspiration across the opening five Premier League fixtures has been frustrating, but there is indeed an abundance of quality at Lopetegui’s disposal.

Two of the most exciting summer signings have got to be Crysencio Summerville and Jean-Clair Todibo. The former, signed from Leeds United for an undisclosed fee, was the Championship MVP last term after posting 21 goals and ten assists across all competitions.

The £30k-per-week winger has only played a bit-part role for West Ham so far – only starting twice in all competitions – but is starting to grow into his skin and will hope to make a marked impact going forward.

In Todibo’s case, he’s technically still an OGC Nice player after moving to the London Stadium on a one-year loan deal – that said, West Ham have a £35m purchase option that they are expected top activate.

Because of this, the dynamic French defender is still only earning £20k per week, meaning that he’s below one struggling West Ham star in the wage table.

Indeed, one man is out-earning both of these talented new arrivals and though it’s not by much, Vladimir Coufal needs to be axed by Lopetegui if he gets another transfer window to determine that.

Why West Ham must axe Vladimir Coufal

Coufal has amassed 160 appearances for West Ham since signing from Slavia Prague for a shrewd £5m figure. He’s been an excellent servant but, aged 32, is on the decline.

The experienced ace started the opener against Aston Villa this season but flattered to deceive. The Evening Standard’s Dom Smith agreed, branding him with a 4/10 match rating and writing: ‘Caught out of position by coming too centrally, allowing Lucas Digne and John McGinn to exploit the space down the left. And Duran got through late on, too, thanks to Coufal’s poor positioning.’

Since then, he started against Palace but has been restricted to cameos from the bench, playing 19 minutes versus Manchester City, 33 minutes against Fulham and then not even appearing last weekend. So, Lopetegui already doesn’t think he’s good enough.

Moreover, the right-back is out of contract at the end of the season, but there cannot be any chance that he renews, given that he has effectively been replaced by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has joined from Manchester United.

Coufal is ‘only’ earning £35k per week but is still taking home a prettier pay packet than that of Summerville, highlighting that the young forward will hope to see a refreshed deal, should he succeed in east London.

For Coufal, he’s probably approaching the end of the line at West Ham. The Czech native has been a loyal servant and an instrumental figure in winning the Conference League, but now it might be right for the 32-year-old to move away for pastures new.

With such an eventuality in mind, perhaps West Ham ought to have done more to keep the younger Ben Johnson this summer.