Last summer saw a huge squad overhaul at West Ham as new boss Julen Lopetegui and technical director Tim Stiedten went to work on building a squad capable of competing regularly in Europe.
David Moyes had done a fantastic job of that over the previous four years but was often criticised for not having enough strength in depth, which cost the team at times, especially later on in seasons when players were clearly running out of steam.
Quite often, Moyes would not have much to call upon from his bench to change games, nor would he have many options to rotate his squad during busy periods of the season.
So it was clear from the off that Lopetegui and Stiedten had a lot of work to do in order to not only strengthen the starting XI but also improve the strength of the bench.
Nine players were signed amid huge excitement as the club splashed out around £150m to boost the squad’s quality. Meanwhile, eleven players were allowed to leave, including a handful of youngsters.
The bulk of the players allowed to leave were those who had clearly struggled for form or game time towards the end of Moyes’ reign, but there were one or two squad players who fans believed still had something to offer this Hammers side.
But how are all those players who left in the summer doing since they left east London? We’ve taken a look…
Flynn Downes – Southampton
The Hammers fan spent last season on loan at Southampton, helping them secure promotion back to the Premier League. It was no secret that the Saints wanted him back permanently as a result, and deal was done for around £15m to keep him at St. Mary’s.
Despite Southampton still waiting for their first Premier League win of the season, Downes has started all nine of their league games so far and his only been substituted once, which was in the 87th minute against Manchester City last weekend.
Downes has also captained the Saints on four occasions this season. It’s fair to say he’s getting more football than he would be getting had he stayed at London Stadium.
Said Benrahma – Lyon
The Algeria international spent the second half of last season on loan at Lyon and made the move permanent for around £10m.
Since then, he’s a fairly decent season so far as Lyon compete in the top-seven of Ligue and in the Europa League.
Benrahma has two goals and two assists in nine appearances in all competitions so far this term, including a goal in Lyon’s 2-0 Europa League victory over Olympiacos in September.
Thilo Kehrer – Monaco
The German is another who spent the second half of last season out on loan.
Since making his move to Monaco permanent in the summer, Kehrer has made quite the impression at Monaco, scoring two and assisting one more in 10 appearances in all competitions.
He has played every minute of the Ligue 1 side’s Champions League campaign, including their 2-1 victory over Barcelona last month, while has missed just two Ligue 1 fixtures so far.
Kehrer has also captained the side on two separate occasions.
Nathan Trott – FC Copenhagen
It’s fair to say Nathan Trott had to leave West Ham sooner rather than later after a string of loan spells abroad didn’t get him any closer to breaking into to West Ham’s first-team.
The 25-year-old finally secured a permanent switch away from the club in the summer, opting to sign for FC Copenhagen in Denmark.
Since that switch, he has become a regular starter, making 21 appearances already this season, keeping eight clean sheets in the process.
Trott is proving himself to be an important fixture of Copenhagen’s side as they battle with fellow title contenders FC Midtjylland at the top of the Danish Superliga, as well as compete in the Europa Conference League, although they’re still looking for their first Group Stage victory after a 2-1 defeat to Jagiellonia and 1-1 draw against Real Betis, who are managed by former West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini and also have ex-Hammers Adrian in goal and Pablo Fornals in midfield.
Ben Johnson – Ipswich Town
Ben Johnson opted against signing a fresh West Ham contract at the end of last season as he sought more first-team opportunities elsewhere.
I looked like he found it with Ipswich Town, who had just been promoted to the Premier League. But so far it just hasn’t quite gone to plan for the right-back.
He’s made just four Premier League appearances for the Tractor Boys, starting just two of them, has been an unused substitute on three occasions and has been left out of the matchday squad for Ipswich’s last two games.
While he may have expected to be playing more – after all, it’s why he left West Ham – he has struggled to dislodge Axel Tuanzebe as Ipswich’s first-choice right-back.
Angelo Ogbonna – Watford
Uncle Ange left the club after an incredible West Ham career and while it took him some time to find a new club, he eventually signed for Championship side Watford at the end of August.
At 36-years-old, no one was expecting him to be a consistent fixture in the Hornet’s starting XI but he has played a fair amount of football for them recently.
Despite only making five appearances for the club so far, he has completed the full 90 minutes in four of those, including against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, which Watford narrowly lost 2-1.
The centre-back hasn’t made the squad for Watford’s last two Championship fixtures, but his experience and presence around the squad will be just as valuable.
Joseph Anang – St. Patrick’s Athletic
Anang is another young goalkeeper who simply had to leave the club in order to get important first-team football under his belt.
He signed for Dublin based St. Patrick’s Athletic, where he had already spent two separate spells on loan previously.
The 24-year-old played all six of the Irish club’s Conference League qualifiers as they eventually crashed out to Basaksehir 2-0 on aggregate in August.
He has also featured in all of St. Pat’s league fixtures so far as they started the season with a run of six consecutive victories.
Divin Mubama – Manchester City
It was a shame that Divin Mubama felt he needed to leave West Ham at the end of the season for first-team opportunities, because he was beginning to get more game time throughout last term and, quite frankly, we could really do with another striker on the books at the moment.
But he left and ended up signing for Manchester City, which shocked everyone after long running reports that he would sign for Sunderland didn’t materialise.
However, Mubama has gone straight into City’s youth set-up and hasn’t even made the bench for the first team just yet.
Something tells me that while it must be nice for him to have signed for the Premier League champions, it won’t be there where he eventually finds regular first-team football.
Nayef Aguerd – Real Sociedad
It was clear Nayef Aguerd was on his way out of the club after he didn’t make the squad for West Ham’s final six matches of the season and only made five Premier League appearances in the second-half of the season.
He was sent out on loan to Real Sociedad, where he has since made nine first team appearances, including two in the Europa League, with his team team currently sitting in 12th in La Liga.
James Ward-Prowse – Nottingham Forest
Many still believe the decision to allow James Ward-Prowse to leave on loan was a mistake. There have times this season when the midfield has looked disjointed and unbalanced, and having a player like Ward-Prowse to call upon could’ve helped with that. And then there’s head dead ball abilities, which are almost unrivalled in England.
But he joined Nottingham Forest on loan, where his new club has enjoyed a really solid start to the new campaign, with them currently sitting in 7th having lost just one of their opening nine games of the season.
However, while JWP’s Forest career started off well, with four consecutive Premier League starts, he saw red in their 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the beginning of October and he hasn’t played since, missing the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace through suspension and then being an unused substitute in the recent 3-1 victory over Leicester.
He will definitely miss Forest’s next game, too, which is against West Ham at the City Ground this weekend, as he’s ineligible to play against his parent club.
Kurt Zouma – Al Orobah
Zouma’s fitness struggles towards the end of last season meant he was almost certainly going to leave in the summer. With one year left on his contract, it was being reported that the club would pay him off, but he eventually left on loan to Saudi Pro League output Al Orobah.
The 30-year-old has made five first-team appearances since his switch, including one as captain as his new side lost 4-1 to Al-Qadsiah in the King’s Cup.
Despite playing the full 90 minutes in four consecutive Saudi Pro League games, Zouma has failed to make the matchday squad in Al Orobah’s previous two league fixtures.
Maxwel Cornet – Southampton
Cornet simply had to leave West Ham in the summer after a really disappointing time at West Ham, where he scored just one goal in 37 appearances.
A loan move to newly promoted Southampton seemed perfect for the Ivorian, but he has also struggled to make an impact at his new club.
The 28-year-old has made just three appearances in all competitions for the Saints so far this season, being an unused substitute on two occasions and failing to make the squad three times.
