Major West Ham update emerges over quartet's future – it involves £27m flop | OneFootball

The Hammers may find It difficult to move on four outcasts outside of England due to their high wages.

West Ham United will be looking to ramp up their summer transfer window activity to aid a Championship promotion push.

The Hammers are preparing for their first Championship campaign since 2012 after coming 18th in the top-flight, missing out on safety by just two points.

Returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking is definitely something the East London outfit will target given they are likely to have dominant financial resources compared to the rest of the division and could raise significant money through a number of player sales this summer.

One player sale that has already developed is of Mateus Fernandes, with the midfielder moving back to the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur.

The Hammers have reportedly pocketed a fixed fee of £85m, which will be so important to attacking the summer transfer window and building a squad capable of being towards the Championship summit next year.

But West Ham are finding it difficult to get some other outcasts off the books to generate further funds, with such high wages for those players providing a sticking point for pursuing clubs outside of England.

A report from Claret & Hugh has provided further detail on this development, with West Ham having a huge task on their hands to sell the quartet, despite a 50% reduction in their salaries that relegation from the Premier League brings.

Despite raising such welcomed funds through the sale of Mateus Fernandes, West Ham would have been hopeful of moving a fair few other players on that have little interest in playing Championship football and take up a big chunk of their wage bill.

But as per a report by Claret & Hugh, West Ham have a challenge on their hands to sell the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Niclas Füllkrug, Edson Alvarez and Maxwel Cornet this summer, with their wages described as ‘unaffordable’ to clubs outside of England.

Their salaries are described as far too high for European outfits to take on, even with their wages at the London Stadium being halved due to relegation from the top-flight.

It is believed to be the reason why Alvarez’s proposed move to German side Koln fell through, with a report by Football Place revealing that the whole deal is in jeopardy over a disagreement with wages.

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It’s far from ideal for West Ham to be in this position as the start of the 2026-27 Championship season is just five weeks away now, with the Hammers bound to have been hopeful of sanctioning exits for this quartet already.

James Ward-Prowse hasn’t been favoured by Nuno Espírito Santo since his arrival into the dugout and was subsequently loaned out to Burnley for the second half of last season, while Edson Alvarez seems to have no intention of staying in the second tier to get the Hammers back to the big time.

On the other hand, Maxwel Cornet hasn't been able to prove his fitness on a consistent basis throughout his time at the club, while the same can be said for Niclas Füllkrug, who has turned out to be a massive flop at West Ham following his £27m move to the London Stadium from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2024.

Therefore, it’s four players that have to leave in order to kickstart the Hammers’ rebuild, but the fact they are struggling to sell them to clubs outside of England is a real blow, particularly with Alvarez once close to moving to Germany, while Füllkrug had spent last season in Italy on loan with AC Milan.

In England, Premier League teams are not going to want to take a gamble on any of these players with such high wages either, so the Hammers need to find a way of getting them off the books quickly enough.

One way may be negotiating further wage cuts for the players so that clubs from outside of Europe feel enticed enough to make moves for them, and you would feel the four players would be interested in doing this if it meant bringing their West Ham careers to an end and starting fresh.

While it may be a long process to do this, West Ham need to make sure they don’t have any bad eggs around the camp that don’t want to be here and could harm the squad in their battle for promotion.

The Hammers need a squad that are all on the same page and fighting for one goal, which is to get West Ham back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Success can only happen if there is great team morale, and the club must ensure that every player in their squad wants to be around the place and is keen on delivering success to such a massive football club.