Andy Carroll drops West Ham prediction for 2026/27 Championship season | OneFootball

Former West Ham United striker Andy Carroll has issued his verdict on how the Hammers will fare in the Championship next season following relegation.

West Ham United are preparing for life back in the Championship following their relegation from the Premier League.

After a poor start to the season that saw them win just one of their opening five games, West Ham parted company with head coach Graham Potter in September, replacing him with Nuno Espírito Santo.

Nuno initially struggled to make an impact at the London Stadium, but the Hammers had the sixth-best record in the top flight from mid-January onwards, accumulating 25 points from their final 17 games.

However, three consecutive defeats towards the end of the season against Brentford, Arsenal and Newcastle saw West Ham lose control of their own destiny, and a 3-0 win over Leeds United on the final day was not enough to prevent relegation due to Tottenham Hotspur's victory over Everton.

The Hammers have confirmed that Nuno will remain in charge for their first season in the Championship since 2012, but while there will not be a change in the dugout, there is likely to be plenty of upheaval in the squad.

According to the Daily Mail, the likes of Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jean-Clair Todibo, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Mateus Fernandes, Crysencio Summerville and Taty Castellanos could be among the players sold by West Ham this summer as they look to raise more than £100 million in sales, while the future of influential captain Jarrod Bowen is also uncertain.

Andy Carroll issues West Ham promotion prediction ahead of Championship return

West Ham supporters may still be coming to terms with the fact that their team will be playing Championship football next season, but their former striker Andy Carroll is optimistic about how they will fare in the second tier.

Carroll, who scored 34 goals and provided 16 assists in 142 appearances during a seven-year spell at the club between 2012 and 2019, predicted that the Hammers will bounce back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, although he warned that there could be a mass exodus this summer.

When asked if he believes West Ham will make an immediate return to the top flight, Carroll told talkSPORT reporter Ian Abrahams: "Yeah, I do.

"I'm actually devastated at what happened.

"Watching the game was frustrating.

"Watching the last few games as well was disappointing, but I do believe that they'll come straight back up."

"You hope all the players stay, but it doesn't work like that," Carroll admitted.

"We're just going to have to see what happens really.

"I got relegated with Newcastle in my first season and that was it, that was when I got my chance.

"We got relegated, and I would say half the team that was the starting line-up or the main players left, that's what happens in teams, especially big teams.

"West Ham is a massive club, so there will be players going."

Bold Nuno Espírito Santo call gives West Ham a huge Championship advantage

With a significant number of players expected to depart, it could be a turbulent summer for West Ham ahead of their return to the Championship, but the club will at least have some stability in the dugout after the decision to stick with Nuno.

While he oversaw the vast majority of their relegation season, it is difficult not to feel that Nuno should be managing at a much higher level than the second tier, and in his previous spell in the division, he won the title with Wolverhampton Wanderers with a total of 99 points.

Of course, Nuno will need to be provided with sufficient backing in the transfer window to help replace the quality that will be lost, but if he is given a strong squad, there is no doubt that he is more than capable of leading the Hammers back to the Premier League at the first attempt.