The West Ham squad for the 2024/25 season is locked and loaded, as the Hammers begin a new era under Julen Lopetegui.
Considering that David Moyes leaves with the highest win percentage in the history of West Ham managers, having delivered regular European football, top-half finishes and an unforgettable trophy-winning jaunt to Prague… the honest answer is that ex-Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui will be conducting a real-time interrogation of the phrase ‘Be careful what you wish for’.
This is the curse of middling sides in a world dominated by PSR, state-owned behemoths and those who wish for Super Leagues. Success is both relative and restricted, and for a team like West Ham the main aim is to sneak into the European places and muster a domestic cup run while the big boys aren’t looking.
But the Thursday night tax is real. After their 10 European fixtures last season, only twice did the Hammers manage a win on the following Sunday. While the fans may miss their Duolingo-based continental adventures of the past three seasons, Lopetegui will welcome the opportunity to remodel his ageing squad and try to imprint his playing style on a group of players used to the pragmatic, low block blueprint favoured by Moyes.
He will also need to find a way to move on from the talismanic Michail Antonio who, at 34, must surely be ready to wind down his career and supplement his pension with oil money from Saudi Arabia.
West Ham squad for 2024/25
West Ham squad for 2024/25: Julen Lopetegui's full team
- GK: Wes Foderingham
- GK: Lukasz Fabianski
- GK: Alphonse Areola
- DF: Kurt Zouma
- DF: Konstantinos Mavropanos
- DF: Nayef Aguerd
- DF: Aaron Cresswell
- DF: Emerson Palmieri
- DF: Max Kilman
- DF: Vladimir Coufal
- DF: Jean-Clair Todibo
- MF: Guido Rodriguez
- MF: Mohammed Kudus
- MF: Tomas Soucek
- MF: Maxwel Cornet
- MF: Luis Guilherme
- MF: Lucas Paqueta
- MF: Andy Irving
- MF: Edson Alvarez
- MF: James Ward-Prowse
- FW: Michail Antonio
- FW: Jarrod Bowen
- FW: Danny Ings
- FW: Crysencio Summerville
- FW: Niclas Fullkrug
West Ham squad numbers for 2024/25
West Ham manager
Julen Lopetegui
Chairman David Sullivan is obsessed with the idea that only coaches with Premier League managerial experience can succeed in England, which is a wonderful way of narrowing your pool of choices. He settled on Julen Lopetegui and will hope for the Europa League-winning Sevilla version.
West Ham's key player
Jarrod Bowen
Jarrod Bowen was sensational last season with 20 goals, plenty of assists and a sense of maturation into an elite top-flight player. He will be key once more, although it might be an idea to play a few functioning central defenders behind him somewhere.
One to watch
Luis Guilherme
Luis Guilherme has arrived from Brazil with a big price tag and bigger reputation. It will be fascinating to see how Lopetegui integrates the young South American considering that he already has Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus as left-footed, right-sided types and that many of the issues last year appeared to stem from a leaky defence and barren wasteland of a midfield.
The mood
A mixture. There are the giddily optimistic sorts among the fan base who look at the rise of Aston Villa and wonder why that couldn’t be West Ham. Then there are those who are wistfully shaking their heads at the defenestration of a boss who had delivered the most consistent level of performance to the club in decades and argue that two seasons ago, that was indeed West Ham.
One can’t say that it’s all age-related, but it’s hard not to think that the former group simply weren’t there for the Avram Grant era – another inspired Sullivan appointment whose fabled Premier League experience turned out to be somewhat unhelpful.
Most likely to...
Give you a tip on the 3.30 at Kempton: absolutely anyone but Lucas Paqueta. You’d hope. The threat of a ban for the Brazilian for irregular gambling activity seems at once both absurd and existential.
Least likely to...
Break the Premier League free-kick record: James Ward-Prowse, who joined West Ham last summer and promptly forgot his biggest party trick.
View from the stands
James Longman (@longers1)
Last season was ultimately disappointing. To the outsider, a European run to the quarters and 9th in the table may be a great campaign, but a lack of investment in January and letting two key squad players go without replacing them meant it could have been so much better.
The big talking point is new manager, new West Ham? After consistent criticism from many quarters of David Moyes’ football philosophy, it’s time for something different. Some suspect that Julen Lopetegui is a Manuel Pellegrini-type appointment.
This season will be different because we aren’t in Europe for the first time in three years. I was very much in the camp of ‘You only care about the Conference League if you’re in the Conference League’, but after two top Europa tours and one of the best nights of my life in Prague, I’m really going to miss it.
I won’t be happy unless we do the treble.
Our key player will be Jarrod Bowen. I was smiling ear to ear when he featured at the Euros. He’s exactly the kind of player West Ham fans love: work rate, passion, goals and being related to Danny Dyer.
Our most underrated player is Tomas Soucek. He gets a lot of stick because he’s not a glamorous player, but he works hard, has scored a few winners and just gets on with the job.
Look out for our new Brazilian Luis Guilherme – a snip at £25.5 million. It’s a big gamble, but if it works it’ll be a masterstroke. If it doesn’t it’ll be so West Ham.
Fans think our owner is old-school. Many believe David Sullivan operates like football is still in the ’80s, but if he backs the new manager and it works out, opinions soon change.
The opposition player I'd love here is Harry Maguire. If we’d signed him last summer, we’d have finished in the European spots. Instead, we conceded more goals than we ever have in the Premier League.
The opposition player who grinds my gears is Callum Wilson – he always scores against us and is delighted about it.
The active player I'd love to have back is Gianluca Scamacca in a system that suits him.
The pantomime villain will be Karren Brady and the Poundshop Pep, Mikel Arteta.
The thing my club really gets right is consistently lurching from one comedy disaster to another.
The one change I'd make would be bringing back the Green Street-style stalls selling unofficial merch – it’s part of the character and soul of the game.
Our season ticket prices are starting to force the ordinary fan out of football.
I'm least looking forward to playing Manchester City as we always lose, and Arsenal because it’s tough seeing one of your exes (Declan) doing so well.
The fans' opinion of the gaffer is that he’ll be under pressure from minute one. Can we keep clean sheets? Can we play more attractive football? Can he take us forward? Will he sing along to Bowen’s On Fire?
If he left, he should be replaced by Sir Trevor[Brooking].
We'll finish an optimistic 7th, a realistic 9th.
