Bournemouth vs West Ham: Players you didn’t know played for both teams
Jermain Defoe is one of several players who you may not have known spent time at both West Ham and Bournemouth.
West Ham are set to take on Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday, with the teams coming into the game in opposite ways.
Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side are looking to make it three consecutive Premier League wins, while the Cherries lost both of their last two games before the international break.
Bournemouth remain the favourites to beat West Ham, however, with Andoni Iraola’s side enjoying a strong start to the season overall.
Looking ahead to the game, West Ham Zone looked at three players who you may not have known featured for both teams.
Jermain Defoe
West Ham looked set to appoint Defoe to Graham Potter’s coaching staff earlier in the year, but a deal never materialised.
The former striker, who joined the Hammers as a teenager in 1999, would go on to make 104 appearances before departing.
| Jermain Defoe | West Ham |
| Appearances | 104 |
| Goals | 40 |
| Assists | 4 |
Defoe‘s West Ham career ended in an ugly fashion. The Irons were relegated at the end of the 2002-03 season, with the former England international handing in a transfer request.
He would eventually get his move to Tottenham, where he would spend the majority of his career.
In 2000, Defoe had been sent on loan to Bournemouth for the season, where he scored 18 goals for the Cherries in the Second Division.
He would return to the Vitality Stadium later in his career, spending a season in the Premier League under Eddie Howe.
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand was another West Ham product who was sent on a loan move to Bournemouth in the early stages of his career.
The legendary defender made his debut for the Hammers in 1996, and was sent on loan later in the year, but made just four appearances for the Cherries before he was recalled by West Ham.
Ferdinand later reflected on the loan and said in an interview with Manchester United in 2023: “I always look back with fond memories on my time there. I loved every minute of my stay.”
The former England international would join Leeds United in 2000 for a then-British record fee of £18million, and later join Manchester United, where he won the Premier League six times and the Champions League.
David James
The third ex-England international on this list, David James, joined West Ham from Aston Villa in July 2001, but would not be able to make his debut until November.
A serious knee injury, sustained while on international duty, kept the goalkeeper on the injury table for several months before he finally appeared in a West Ham shirt.
He would go on to make 102 appearances for the Hammers before joining Manchester City in 2004.
After James had been released by Bristol City in 2012, the goalkeeper, 42 at the time, agreed a one-year deal with Bournemouth in League One.
After just 19 appearances across six months with the Cherries, however, the contract was terminated amid financial re-adjustment at the Vitality Stadium.
James would call time on his career in 2014, after spending his final season as a player-manager in India with Kerala Blasters.
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