Seismic change is on the way at West Ham United as the club faces a major crossroads this summer.
With all the speculation over the future of talismanic captain Declan Rice ahead of his impending sale, it is easy to get tunnel vision at West Ham.
For many fans and pundits, adequately replacing Rice is West Ham’s number one priority. And of course getting that right on the pitch is of paramount importance.
There was a point where replacing manager David Moyes looked like being another big task for the Hammers board.
After seeing Mark Noble retire last summer, losing Rice means more serious upheaval on the playing staff.
Seismic change on the way at West Ham as club faces major crossroads this summer
But the club cannot afford to have the blinkers on when it comes to the very real fork in the road West Ham are approaching at speed.
Seismic change is on the way at West Ham as the club faces a major crossroads this summer.
The Hammers are bringing in a new Director of Football – rumoured to be coveted German Tim Steidten – which will completely change how the club operates in terms of recruitment.
Mark Warburton has left – which follows the departures in consecutive years of Alan Irvine and Stuart Pearce. So that means a new assistant coach will likely be on the way in this summer too.
New DoF, new assistant coach, new captains and a new-look midfield
Rice’s departure means West Ham will have a new captain with rumours that honour will go to Aaron Cresswell.
That will likely mean two new captains in reality.
Cresswell will take the overall club captaincy while a guaranteed first team starter will take the matchday captaincy when he does not play. Someone in the Nayef Aguerd mould for example.
New director of football, new assistant coach, new captains and of course a new-look midfield as a result of Rice’s departure. That is a lot of change in one summer and in such key areas.
Fork in the road and Hammers must get it right
Moyes has remarked on several occasions that making so many changes to the squad last summer was far from ideal. The Scot made it clear he would normally prefer to take a more gradual approach.
Well there are even more substantial changes coming in this summer besides the playing staff.
As a result West Ham must ensure they get it right if they want to continue the progress of the last three years.
One can’t help but feel this summer is more important than any in the modern history of West Ham.
Getting Rice’s replacement – both as a player and captain – right is crucial of course. But just as important is appointing the right men as director of football and assistant to Moyes.
A thoroughly intriguing summer is in prospect. And attracting the right people for those roles will be made all the easier off the back of the club’s fantastic European success and participation in the Europa League once again.
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