£13 million West Ham man was a hero in Conference League final but Graham Potter now has to sell him

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Graham Potter has to make a few ruthless decisions with certain West Ham United players in the summer.

It has already been widely reported that the Hammers boss plans to embark on a huge squad overhaul when the summer transfer window opens.

The West Ham squad is a badly misbalanced one, after David Moyes and Julen Lopetegui oversaw three really poor transfer windows.

Let’s not forget Moyes’s terrible attempt to rebuild the squad in the summer of 2022 as well.

Graham Potter has a lot of mess to clear up now.

The impending rebuild will begin in the summer, and there may well be a few surprise casualties.

I think West Ham as a club have to learn to sell players at the right time. The owners always seem to hold on to players who are well past their best for too long.

Hopefully that will be different this summer.

Graham Potter now has to sell Emerson Palmieri

Emerson Palmieri joined West Ham from Chelsea in the summer of 2022 for around £13 million (The Sun).

At the time, the signing of Emerson was seen as somewhat of a coup for the Hammers.

He has been brilliant for us at times, especially during the Europa Conference League final in 2023 when he was handed a surprise start by David Moyes.

The 30-year-old was exceptional for the Hammers against Fiorentina, and played a key role in our first major trophy win since 1980.

The Italian was heavily linked with an exit from the London Stadium last summer, but he obviously remained with us in the end.

However, the former Chelsea left-back’s form has dipped badly this season.

And now Potter should ensure that he is moved on in a few month’s time.

Time for Ollie Scarles to take over from Emerson

I’m sure the Hammers will still be able to obtain a pretty reasonable fee for Emerson.

He still has plenty of years left ahead of him, especially in a slower paced league like Serie A.

Emerson’s current contract with West Ham expires in the summer of 2026, and the club have an option to extend that deal by a further 12 months.

This summer will be the perfect time to move him on. The Hammers should get at least £15 million for Emerson, and we have Ollie Scarles ready to step in and take over from the Italian.

The 19-year-old Hammers academy graduate is an elite young talent, and I genuinely believe that he offers more than Emerson already, certainly from a defensive standpoint.

Scarles has energy, pace and power in abundance, not forgetting his exceptional technical ability.

Potter has to reduce the average age of his tired squad this summer. It will very much be a case of out with the old and in with the new.

A great place to start will be for the West Ham head coach to sell Emerson Palmieri when the summer transfer window opens.