West Ham legend Paolo Di Canio visited his old club to meet with Graham Potter recently and watch training.
What West Ham would give for a player like Paolo Di Canio right now.
Not only is Di Canio comfortably one of – if not the – best Hammers players of the Premier League era, he takes his place among a list of legends to have graced the club in the last 130 years.
Di Canio showed the kind of passion, fight and demands of his teammates that has been sorely lacking at West Ham over the last 16 months.
Ask any Hammers fans to name the players they want to see remain in the West Ham team next season and there would only be four or five at the most.
That is indicative of the situation facing manager Graham Potter this summer.
Since replacing Julen Lopetegui in January, it’s fair to say it’s been an inauspicious start to life at West Ham for Potter.
No magic wand for Potter at West Ham
He has not shied away from acknowledging that fact either.
Indeed Potter has actually apologised to fans for the slow progress in implementing his ideas and how he wants West Ham to play – particularly from an attacking perspective.
There have been murmurings among some supporters about whether Potter is the right man for the job.
Those fans feel Potter has enough talent at his disposal to be doing better after three months in east London.
But most rational supporters will not be judging the 49-year-old until he has his own team together next season.
A significant rebuild is on the horizon.
Potter is planning an 18-player West Ham turnaround this summer.
Sales will dictate how much business the club can do, though.
So the Hammers faithful are understandably concerned about whether they can get things right and return to challenging for a European spot.
After defeat to Wolves last week, Potter put his West Ham squad on notice, saying they must shape up or they will be shipped out in the rebuild.
Di Canio holds talks with Potter about West Ham’s future
It’s unlikely the Irons will ever find bargains like £1.5m Di Canio again in the modern market.
But the team certainly needs more personality, leadership, skill, guile and goals – the things the Italian maverick brought to this club in abundance.
Now Di Canio has lifted the lid on talks with Potter about West Ham’s future and names three stars he loves.
In a lengthy interview with Foot Italia, Di Canio revealed he recently met with Potter at Rush Green.
And he says it was a good experience with Potter and the club making him feel at home.
“It’s a pleasure for me to be here because every time I come back to England,” Di Canio said.
“I feel at home. It is my second home. Obviously, I have my daughters who live in London, so I get these opportunities to come to England often.
“Every time I come back I receive a warm welcome. So I always enjoy being here.
“I had the chance to go to the West Ham training ground and I was speaking to Graham Potter, speaking about the future of our club.
“So it’s always a good experience and I feel at home.”
Di Canio was also asked who of the current squad he would loved to have played alongside at West Ham.
Legend Di Canio names three West Ham stars he loves
And he picked out main man Jarrod Bowen as well as Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta – two players Potter could reportedly soon sell to raise funds.
“It would be easier for me (with them) because I was in a sort of orchestrator upfront,” Di Canio added.
“I was more of an assist man than goalscorer.
“I can imagine Bowen and Kudos now playing with Paqueta and the one-twos, that combination with me would be fantastic with our creativity and imagination.”
It is a real touch of class from Potter to have had a Hammers great like Di Canio back at the club.
It shows Potter is invested in really getting to the heart of West Ham’s history – in a bid to make the future a lot brighter.
Let’s hope some of Di Canio’s magic rubs off on the players – starting at Liverpool this weekend.
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