After West Ham’s woes this season, it’s obvious the club needs to oversee a huge squad rebuild this summer.
That’s regardless of what league they’re playing in, with relegation to the Championship a very real possibility ahead of the final two fixtures of the Premier League season.
With record losses of £104m in the previous year’s accounts, the Hammers have already admitted that it will need to sanction a number of player sales to help balance the books, even if relegation is avoided.
So as we head towards the end of the season and start anticipating another frantic summer transfer window, no one really knows what’s going to happen and how the squad is going to look by the time August comes around.
With so much work to be done over the coming months, it seems West Ham are in the market for someone to help with the rebuild.
West Ham interested in Paul Wagner
Sky Sports Germany are reporting that the Hammers are interested in bringing former Dynamo Dresden Squad Planner Paul Wagner to the club this summer.
The 27-year-old’s stock has risen considerably over the past few years, with his work at Dresden helping them secure promotion to 2.Bundesliga after three years in Germany’s third tier.
He left the club earlier this year in search of a fresh challenge.
It’s now claimed West Ham want to use his scouting and squad building skills to help successfully navigate a huge squad rebuild.
The report claims Hannover and a number of Bundesliga clubs are also interested in Wagner.
#Sky Info: Ex-#Dynamo-Kaderplaner Paul #Wagner weckt großes Interesse. Der 27-Jährige steht hoch im Kurs bei #Hannover und #WestHam. Auch Bundesligisten haben sich erkundigt. Experte für Datenscouting. Vertrag in #Dresden läuft im Sommer aus. Derzeit freigestellt@SkySportDE pic.twitter.com/5TO6FOFfed
— Dennis Bayer (@_dennisbayer) May 13, 2026
If he were to arrive in east London, Wagner – who is described as an ‘expert in data scouting’ by reporter Dennis Bayer – would be signing up for one of the biggest challenges of his career.
West Ham are expected to offload a number of key players this summer, with the likes of Mateus Fernandes and Jarrod Bowen already attracting lots of interest.
And given West Ham’s financial issues, departing players will need to be replaced at a fraction of the cost the club would normally be prepared to pay.
The Hammers have spent over £120m on new signings in each of the last three summer transfer windows, but it’s unlikely that level of spending will continue for a fourth summer, even if they’re still in the Premier League.
So Wagner will have a difficult job on his hands if he does sign up for the challenge at London Stadium.
