Will Salthouse and West Ham United have been intrinsically linked over the past decade or so when it comes to transfers.
That’s because of his extremely close relationship with West Ham co-owner David Sullivan.
Unique Sports Group Chief Executive Will Salthouse now has well over 300 players on his books, after a merger with German sports agency International Sports Management back in 2021.
West Ham fans have been angered by Salthouse’s involvement in our transfer dealings in the past.
The Hammers have often favoured deals to sign players represented by Salthouse, whilst missing out on others who would have perhaps been better for the job at the London Stadium.
They haven’t all been bad signings though!
Michail Antonio, Aaron Cresswell, Said Benrahma and Craig Dawson either were or still are all clients of the well-known football agent.
He was also involved in the deal to bring Lopetegui to West Ham.
So could Sullivan use his chief agent contact to kickstart the Hammers’ summer business? We’ve certainly been linked with numerous Salthouse clients over the past month or so…
10 Will Salthouse clients who allegedly could join West Ham
One of the most famous examples of Salthouse actually causing a problem for West Ham was when Said Benrahma joined the Hammers back in 2020, rather than Moyes’s main target Eberechi Eze.
It’s clear to see which one would have been the better signing now, and many Hammers fans continue to lament the football agent’s relationship with Sullivan.
In spite of all that, he does have some incredibly talented players in his stable – 10 of whom have been linked with summer transfers to West Ham.
Firstly, there are a handful of defensive targets on Salthouse’s books who are being eyed up by the Hammers – Marc Guehi, Odilon Kossounou, Malick Thiaw, Maxence Lacroix and Aaron Wan-Biassaka.
Guehi, 23, is on the Hammers’ radar according to Claret and Hugh, whilst Wan-Bissaka, 26, has been strongly linked with a London Stadium switch since January.
West Ham have apparently already contacted the agent of AC Milan star Malick Thiaw about a potential summer transfer. Meanwhile, Kossounou and Lacroix are potential targets as well.
Then we come to more attacking options. A striker, two wingers, a midfielder and a left wing-back all feature on the list of Unique Sports Group clients who’ve been linked with a move to the London Stadium this summer.
Callum Wilson, Ryan Sessegnon, Alexis Saelemaekers, Jonathan Rowe and Jordan James are thought to be targets for Lopetegui, or at least have been linked with a move to West Ham.
Wilson, 32, was recently linked with an £20 million switch to West Ham from Newcastle in the summer (Give Me Sport), whilst Norwich City winter Jonathan Rowe has been on the Hammers’ radar for quite some time now.
Saelemaekers has been offered to West Ham for around £9 million (SerieBNews), whilst the Hammers are reportedly competing with Atalanta and Leicester City for Birmingham City midfielder Jordan James, according to the Sun.
Finally, Sessegnon is set to leave Tottenham as a free agent, and Claret and Hugh have claimed that Lopetegui wants to bring the 24-year-old to the London Stadium this summer.
Whilst West Ham definitely won’t be signing all 10 of those players, I wouldn’t be surprised one little bit to see two or three of them join us this summer.
Lopetegui should be prioritising moves to sign Marc Guehi, Aaron Wan-Biassaka and Jonathan Rowe as far as I’m concerned.
And Sullivan’s strong relationship with Will Salthouse certainly won’t harm West Ham’s chances of getting deals for those three players done.
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