Fans got a nasty surprise when they opened their new West Ham United 2024 calendars on Christmas Day.
West Ham gave their fans a wonderful Christmas present by climbing into the top six with a 2-0 win over Man United at the weekend.
But many Hammers supporters will be getting more West Ham gifts under the tree on Christmas Day.
West Ham bring the curtain down on 2023 with a game against Arsenal in midweek.
The Hammers will be looking to get another positive result after racking up an impressive 31 wins in all competitions in 2023.
Attentions will soon turn to 2024 with securing a fourth consecutive European spot, the Europa League knockouts and the FA Cup to look forward to.
Fans get nasty surprise in West Ham 2024 calendars
Among the West Ham presents being ripped open today will be the club’s official calendar for next year.
But fans got a nasty surprise when they opened their West Ham 2024 calendars on Christmas Day.
There is always a big focus on which players feature on football club calendars. Many fans believe they can be a dead giveaway about the future of some stars.
And at West Ham they don’t come much bigger than star man and talisman Lucas Paqueta.
The Brazilian magnifico was heavily linked with an £85m move to Man City in the summer before the FIFA and FA investigation into the midfielder.
It has been claimed Man City will reignite the move if Paqueta – who denies the allegations against him – is cleared.
Talisman Paqueta is big omission from calendar
If found guilty he faces a lengthy worldwide ban.
As West Ham’s star player one would expect Paqueta to be front and centre of the club’s calendar.
But the Hammers have opted not to include him in any of the 16 images on the official calendar.
Nayef Aguerd, Thilo Kehrer, Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen feature on the front.
Angelo Ogbonna is January, Kurt Zouma is February, Tomas Soucek is March and Emerson is April.
Lukasz Fabianski, Said Benrahma, Fornals and Kehrer are May through to August.
Vladimir Coufal, Aguerd, Bowen and Alphonse Areola are September, October, November and December.
Hammers play if safe?
But there’s no sign of Paqueta – which will inevitably raise eyebrows.
The images used are all match action pictures so it’s not a case that Paqueta may not have been available for a photoshoot.
In all likelihood it is a sensible approach from West Ham just in case the player is found guilty or leaves in the summer should he be cleared.
Although given the length of other similar investigations, there’s no guarantee that will be the case.
Paqueta has been dishing out gifts to his teammates of late, laying on all five goals in the last two games.
Although the Premier League will be taking one of them away it has emerged.
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