As 2025 blends into 2026, the time is approaching for West Ham United, and all Premier League clubs for that matter, to decide what to do with this season’s crop of out-of-contract talent.
West Ham signed Callum Wilson in August on a one-year, and heavily incentivised, contract. Averaging either a goal or an assist every 120 minutes or so in the Premier League, the 33-year-old centre-forward is proving that he still has plenty of life left in his ageing, occasionally aching legs.
Whether West Ham United opt to extend Wilson’s contract, though, only time will tell.
The futures of Guido Rodriguez and Andy Irving feel slightly more clear-cut. The reaction was one of bemusement when Guido Rodriguez started a Premier League match for the first time since the opening weekend, during Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Irving has started more league games this season than across the entirety of the last one, meanwhile. But he too has done little to suggest he should be kept on long-term.
As for Luton Town loanee Gideon Kodua, going from strength to strength under Jack Wilshere at Kenilworth Road, his future may already be out of Hammers’ hands.
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Luton inserted an option-to-buy clause in Gideon Kodua’s contract when he joined the League One outfit on loan over the summer. Funnily enough, the 21-year-old will also become a free-agent in July 2026.
West Ham may be due a compensation fee, given that Kodua joined the club as a teenager eight years ago, but whatever sum the Hatters end up paying, it is likely to be worth it.
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Kodua rescued Wilshere’s Luton yet again with a late equaliser off the bench against Bolton Wanderers earlier this month. Of his four Hatters goals, two have come in stoppage time, and another in the 83rd minute.
Kodua himself has secured four extra points for Luton in League One already. He also saved the Bedfordshire outfit from an FA Cup upset against non-league Forest Green Rovers.
“He wouldn’t like that [to be known as an impact player],” Wilshere admits, speaking to Luton Today. “But you think about Forest Green and big moments, when you need a little bit of calm and composure. That’s not easy, especially for a young guy as well.
“He’s someone who we really like.”
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Wilshere is a huge fan of the ‘very exciting’ Kodua. West Ham’s former Under-21 captain scored a sublime lob against his Arsenal Under-18 side in the FA Youth Cup final back in 2023.
Wilshere is only too happy to put those past allegiances to one side, ahead of what he hopes will be a long and prosperous partnership at Luton Town. That option-to-buy clause certainly makes a long-term stay a possibility.
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“He’s been in, he’s been out. That’s going to be part of his development. He’s still a young player and we need to get him to a place where he’s more consistent, but he’s getting there,” Wilshere said ahead of Tuesday’s clash with last season’s play-off finalists Leyton Orient.
“At the moment, [Kodua is] coming off the bench helping us. [But] he has had some starts and that’s also important that he does that and he experiences that. He’s young, he’s still developing, he’s still developing as a person and he’s a top person.”
“I think he understands where he’s at, which is important, as not all young players do and sometimes they have a false sense of where they’re at. I think Gideon is very sure of where he’s at and how he can help the team at the moment.
“But our job, my job, and our responsibility is to try and get him to find more consistency, which I feel like is coming.”
Kodua is finding ‘consistency’ in the final third
Kodua was hoping to increase his goals return this season, and he is doing just that. He has four in 21 for Luton, having netted only three in 35 during two spells at third-tier rivals Wycombe Wanderers.
“If you’re on the bench and I turn around and I know we’re searching for a goal, if he keeps doing that I know he can be the guy who we keep leaning towards,” Wilshere explained. “Then if you are on the bench, that’s when you get your opportunity in the team when you come on, do well, score a goal, help the team.
“You have to repeat that and do well in training, but that’s the first step, so he’s going to be important for us.
“You want a lot from your wingers, but the biggest thing you want is output, goals and assists. That’s why they’re in the team, They’re the guys that are creative, they’re the guys that take more risks and it’s always getting that balance right of taking risks, keeping the ball.
“[Kodua] is getting more consistent with it, and he’s arriving at the back post and scoring goals, so we’re really happy with him.”
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