West Ham United’s third pre-season friendly of the 2026 will take them beyond British soil for the first time. But put your passports away; Glasgow and Ibrox is the next destination on Nuno Espirito Santo’s summer docket.
The Hammers stormed past Stevenage in midweek, days after Nuno’s side were held to a 1-1 draw with Southend.
Rangers, then, represent comfortably the biggest test of West Ham United’s pre-season preparations. Not only that, a visit to the Glasgow giants may also offer a closer look at one of the midfielders reportedly on Nils Koppen’s wishlist.
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Koppen was Rangers’ technical director when Connor Barron joined from Aberdeen in 2024. Two years later, Hayters TV reports that a reunion may be on the cards south of the border.
If Koppen is serious about bringing Barron to West Ham – past speculation suggests the Gers will look for around £10 million – this weekend’s return to Glasgow offers the perfect opportunity to get the ball rolling.
West Ham United chief Nils Koppen is a big fan of Rangers’ Connor Barron
It remains to be seen if Barron is fit to face West Ham at Ibrox in Sunday’s 4pm kick-off.
The one-time Scotland international has been recovering from a knee injury which kept him out of much of the run-in last season. He did not feature when Rangers beat St Etienne 2-1 in midweek.
Even if Barron does not make the cut this weekend, the Rangers directors will certainly be in the building. This means that Koppen has the chance to hold face-to-face talks regarding the potential pursuit of a player who may be allowed to leave Scotland’s second city for the right price.
Rangers have already signed two midfielders this summer. Dan Neil was linked with West Ham when his Sunderland contract expired but headed north of the border instead. Vanja Dragojevic also joined in a £4 million deal from Partizan Belgrade on Thursday.
Both Neil and Dragojevic do their business at the base of the midfield; the former a deep-lying playmaker and the latter a physical enforcer. Barron – someone who possesses the skillset to perform both duties in and out of possession – has likely already seen his replacement enter the building.
But, considering that Barron found starts relatively hard to come by in the third-best team in Scotland last season, why might West Ham want him? A club who, despite slipping into the second-tier, would presumably be aiming higher than someone who spent much of 2025/26 warming the bench at Ibrox?
Barron would bring a ‘warrior’ spirit to the London Stadium
Well, West Ham’s new director of player recruitment was around to see the best of Barron. The 23-year-old’s first season at Rangers was much better than the second, and this coincided with Koppen’s stint as the club’s technical director.
While Koppen frequently looks further afield in pursuit of bargains – his best Rangers signing was the £1.7 million acquisition of Hamza Igamane from Morocco – he also understood the importance of creating a strong, Scottish spine.
Technique and class is one thing. But every team needs someone willing to stick the boot in now and again.
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“[Barron] is a player that we have directly competed against on the pitch in recent years,” Koppen said back in 2024. “Through his hard work and dedication, we believe he will prove a real asset to the side.”
Barry Ferguson, a terrier-like midfielder in his own playing days, called Barron his ‘little warrior’ during a brief interim spell as Gers boss. Ex-Aberdeen manager Barry Robson said that what he lacks in stature, he makes up for in spirit; the ‘heart of a lion’.
“He can play and he is brave,” Robson beamed. “He is not the tallest and not the biggest, but he is aggressive in the right way. Connor gets in front and will go into any challenge.”
West Ham supporters have an affinity for tough-tackling, heart-on-the-sleeve battleaxes themselves.
Connor Barron would not be the most ambitious or exciting signing Koppen could make, but he may be one of those players you look back on at the end of a gruelling campaign and wonder where you’d have been without him.
Don’t be surprised – if Koppen really does want Barron at the London Stadium – to see the speculation kicks up a notch from Monday onwards.
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