Niclas Fullkrug and Luis Guilherme have departed West Ham United already this month, with Guido Rodriguez, Callum Wilson, James Ward-Prowse, Mads Hermansen and Lucas Paqueta potentially still to follow.
There is, though, another inevitable exit which has gone somewhat under the radar at the London Stadium.
Luton Town snapped up Gideon Kodua from West Ham United last summer, signing the club’s former Under-21 captain on loan with an option to buy clause included as part of the arrangement.
An option Luton boss Jack Wilshere is determined to take up.
Lucas Paqueta ‘wants to leave West Ham’ in the midst of a relegation battle – what’s your reaction?!
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Wilshere confirmed his desire to keep Kodua at Kenilworth Road for the long haul recently. And speaking after the versatile wideman took his tally to nine goals from 27 games during the 2-1 victory over fellow promotion challengers Stevenage on Saturday, the ex-England international was confident enough to describe Gideon Kodua’s permanent move as ‘in the bag’.
Jack Wilshere confirms Luton Town will sign West Ham United loanee Gideon Kodua
Of those nine goals, eight came in just 13 League One starts.
Wilshere has been the first to praise West Ham for helping set the London-born 21-year-old on the right path at youth level, though the extent of his impact at Luton has taken many by surprise. He has already tripled his tally from last season’s loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers, after all.
“My message to the fans on that is I’m as desperate as they are [to sign Kodua permanently], so that will be done. That will be done,” Wilshere tells The Lutonian. “Whether it’s now, whether it’s before the end of the season, let’s see because you never know what other opportunities are out there.
“And if there’s a case where we’ve only got a certain amount to spend, then we’ve already got Gideon in the bag, so we know that. So let’s be patient with that one, but I also feel the fans, they want to see that announcement that it’s permanent and it will be.”
It remains to be seen exactly how much Luton will spend, though one suspects his market value is a lot higher now than when he moved to Kenilworth Road in the first place back in August.
“Gideon’s interesting because I think he can play in a number of positions,” Wilshere adds. “I think he can play on the left, he can play in midfield, he can play on the right. Maybe he could play as a nine, we haven’t seen that yet.
“[His development] is credit to West Ham. They develop players the best for this level. They understand what it takes. They can fight, they’ve got spirit and they understand certain moments.
“So yeah, credit to him, credit to West Ham and it’s now our job to try and refine those moments a little bit where he can do it more consistently.”
In what is shaping up to be a substantial January overhaul at the London Stadium, Niclas Fullkrug left for AC Milan at the beginning of the month. Luis Guilherme moved to Portugal with Sporting Lisbon after starting only two Premier League matches under three different managers.
Nuno also indicated, before the 2-1 FA Cup third round victory over Queens Park Rangers, that James Ward-Prowse and Callum Wilson will be allowed to leave, potentially alongside goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.
“What I say is that, eventually, there are players that have to leave,” Nuno said. “We are being really direct and honest for them to look at the best options.
“It’s clear the situation of James. It’s been clear since some time ago. He’s not among the options and it’s up to him to find the best solution for his future.
“We have honest conversations with all the players. We had a conversation with Mads. We are still to decide if he will play vs QPR, but he is here with us.”
Lucas Paqueta may also have featured in claret and blue for the last time.
According to the Guardian, Flamengo are willing to pay £34.7million for Paqueta this month.
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