Julen Lopetegui oversaw a very successful transfer window at West Ham United, there’s no doubting that.
Transfer deadline day is now in the rearview mirror, and West Ham brought in Carlos Soler on deadline day, whilst letting Kurt Zouma, James Ward-Prowse, Maxwel Cornet and Nayef Aguerd all leave.
Julen Lopetegui has worked wonders at the London Stadium this summer, and the West Ham head coach proved that he has real ambition to take our great club forward.
The Hammers fans are buzzing with excitement about what the future holds for us, and rightly so – we’ve come on leaps and bounds as a club over the past few months.
Aside from all the new signings this summer, the Spaniard was given the remit of geting rid of some of the fringe players, and he succeeded in doing just that.
The fact that he brought in the likes of Jean-Clair Todibo, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Crysencio Summerville and Guido Rodriguez is still incredible when you think about it.
And there are still some terrific free agents we could sign, if that’s something Lopetegui wishes to do.
But was there anything that the Hammers head coach and co could have done better this summer?
5 things learnt from West Ham transfer window under Julen Lopetegui
There were definitely more good things than bad that happened at the London Stadium throughout the summer window.
And here are five key things we all would have learned after witnessing Lopetegui and his transfer team in action over the past two months.
Lopetegui and Steidten are a ruthless partnership
Tim Steidten came into his own this summer, having been given full power to sign the players he wanted. Lopetegui would have given the German the player profiles he craved, and then the DOF would have gone out and selected the perfect fits for the Hammers chief’s desires. We had key targets earlier on in the window like Jhon Duran and Jonathan David, but when it became clear they weren’t available, Julen and Tim quickly moved on to other options – ruthless work in the extreme from them both.
West Ham will not tolerate mediocrity anymore
There have been numerous occasions over the past few years where we have kept hold of players for simply too long. Going back over the last five seasons or so, we allowed the likes of Issa Diop, Andriy Yarmolenko, Felipe Anderson, Jack Wilshere, Jordan Hugill, Arthur Masuaku, Ryan Fredericks and Conor Coventry to remain at the club for far too long. And more recently, the likes of Maxwel Cornet, Nayef Aguerd and Kurt Zouma all should have been shipped out last year. That has clearly all changed since Lopetegui was handed the reins. He moved on four players on deadline day, albeit all on loan deals. The only other player I would have liked to see leave was Danny Ings, but he definitely won’t be here this time next year.
Hammers must get better at selling
In spite of the fact that we shipped out numerous players on deadline day, we still didn’t get any fees for them. That has to change going forward, but in fairness to Lopetegui and Steidten, it is the club’s poor recruitment from the past that is costing us dearly now. If you look at the Hammers’ player recruitment this summer, more than half of the new signings all have huge sell-on value. I can guarantee you that once all of David Moyes’s signings are shipped out, Lopetegui and Steidten will not have any issues gaining maximum value for money for the players they decide to sell.
Lopetegui vision is clear
From the signings made by the Spaniard this summer, it’s very clear to see what he plans to do. He brought in Aaron Wan-Bissaka – an obvious sign that he wants pace and power from the full-back positions. The late addition of Carlos Soler highlights how Lopetegui wants more fluidity from his team in the middle of the pitch. He has a whole host of wingers who are all capable of interchanging positions throughout the game, with a proven marksman in the form of Niclas Fullkrug set to operate through the middle. Lopetegui then clearly plans to setup with a double pivot of Edson Alvarez and Guido Rodriguez, who will provide a solid base from which to build our play. The vision is clear, let’s just hope that the new signings are up to the task.
West Ham youth to be given a chance
The only disappointing facet of the summer window for the Hammers was that we’ve been left with only three senior centre-backs and no pace in the centre-forward department. However, there is one silver lining as far as I’m concerned. Due to those two specific weaknesses, a couple of youngsters could be given very big chances to shine this season. Kaelen Casey is now our fourth choice centre-back, and i’m sure he’ll be given some minutes this season. Meanwhile, Josh Ajala is tearing up trees for the under-18s. The 18-year-old possesses blistering pace and is a really clinical finisher. Who knows, we just might see him in the cup competitions at some point this season. Lopetegui may well be ready to trust in youth, we shall see.
Conclusion as bright future lies in wait for West Ham
We all have to be patient with Lopetegui and his nine new summer signings.
It will be a work in progress for the Hammers over the next 12 months or so, and we all have to accept that it will take time for Lopetegui’s ideas and footballing philosophy to bed in.
However, it’s very clear for me to see that we’ve already made huge progress since the Spaniard replaced David Moyes earlier this summer.
West Ham acted like a proper club in the summer transfer window with Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten pulling the strings.
Once all the new signings are settled into life at the London Stadium, I fully expect us to make a strong push for the top seven this season.
If that doesn’t happen though, there will be no need to panic, especially if it becomes clear that genuine progress is being made regarding Lopetegui’s ultimate vision coming to fruition.
The West Ham summer window produced way more positives than negatives, and I’m hopeful that I’ll be saying the same thing about our 2024/25 campaign when the season is finished.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
