Credit: Imago

West Ham Zone Speaking to Ian Darke

Mon 24 March 2025 12:35, UK

West Ham United have key decisions to make this summer over how they strategise their squad.

An ambitious summer in the transfer market last year, which resulted in a net spend exceeding £80million, largely floundered at the London Stadium and helped towards seeing Tim Steidten and Julen Lopetegui through the exit door.

Graham Potter, David Sullivan and the board of directors are looking to learn from recent mistakes and build a squad that can be competitive next season, and part of that is to decide the fate of numerous upcoming free agents.

West Ham have five senior pros out of contract

West Ham and Potter must plan a squad rebuild and a budget for the summer, which also takes into account a quintet of players coming to the end of their respective contracts.

All five are 32 or older and have contributed to varying levels during their stints in East London, including Michail Antonio, who will go down as a Hammers legend of the modern era.

Aaron Cresswell is a notable summer free agent, having been restored to the team under Potter with some impressive displays at the age of 35, even surpassing 300 Premier League appearances.

Vladimir Coufal, Danny Ings and Lukasz Fabianski – who will turn 40 before the season ends – will also have meetings with the club to decide their futures.

TV commentator Ian Darke, speaking exclusively to West Ham Zone, believes the Irons must take a “business” approach and freshen things up, but has added they should consider keeping Cresswell for another year.

“Business is business at the end of the day. It’s a difficult one with Danny Ings – he only comes on as a sub really and only once in the last four. Coufal has done great, but these days, he’s around the fringes, he’s not really playing that much with Wan-Bissaka there,” Darke explained.

“The problem is that you can’t keep everybody, and the players themselves might fancy a new challenge as well. Potter and the board do have to freshen it up a little bit after the summer they had last year.

“There’s a chance the out-of-contract players might all be offloaded – maybe Cresswell for another year wouldn’t be out of the realms of possibility. I feel like it’d be the right thing to do.”

Antonio could move into coaching role

While nothing too recent has been mentioned about Antonio’s post-retirement plans, the iconic Irons striker admitted back in 2023 that coaching could be on the cards, having discussed his plans with now-Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany.

Antonio took the acclaim of the London Stadium recently, returning to watch the Premier League contest with Newcastle United as he rehabilitates from his horrific car crash back in December, and could be kept around at West Ham to be welcomed back in next season.

Elsewhere, Coufal at 32 will believe he still has years left in the tank, and Ings will score goals in a team that suits his strengths, where he can play regularly.

It remains uncertain how Fabianski plans for goalkeeping life post-40, while Cresswell looks to remain a viable asset for Potter for a little while longer yet.