9 West Ham players 'expected to be sold' as £100m target set | OneFootball

The Hammers are expected to try and balance their financial books after relegation

West Ham United's relegation from the Premier League will see the club compete in the Championship for the first time in 14 years, and they are already facing huge cost-cutting measures as a result.

Just three years ago, the Hammers were regulars in European competition, and such involvement peaked when Jarrod Bowen's last-gasp winner against Fiorentina sealed the UEFA Conference League under David Moyes.

However, following on from the conclusion of the Scot's second spell at the London Stadium, three head coaches have tried, and failed to steady the ship, and such bleak fortunes have ended with the aforementioned fall into the EFL.

The disparity in finances between the Premier League and Championship in recent years has been well-documented, and whilst the East London outfit have been, like their newly-relegated counterparts, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley, tipped to make an immediate promotion bid under Nuno Espirito Santo - who will be staying on as head coach - many high-profile names and big earners have been linked with immediate exits from E20 as the club look to balance the books whilst remaining as competitive as possible.

West Ham United set for potential nine-player exodus at London Stadium as part of EFL Championship relegation

Supporters in East London have, in recent years, made their opinions on the day-to-day running of the club extremely clear, and that has unsurprisingly continued in recent weeks and months ahead of what was a final-day relegation despite a 3-0 win over Leeds United.

The Irons' total of 39 points was the highest any side has been relegated from the Premier League with since Birmingham City at the conclusion of the 2010/11 season, when the capital club were also relegated with Blues and Blackpool.

It has been widely reported that all players will receive a 50% reduction in wage earnings, whilst the club are attempting to raise in excess of £100m in player sales whilst also attempting to attract new faces to the London Stadium as part of a much-needed rebuild.

It will come as very little surprise to some that Portuguese international midfielder, Mateus Fernandes, is the man at the very top of an 'expected' nine-player departure list, with the former Southampton man being linked with moves to PSG and Manchester United amid talks of a potential £80m sale, although a £50m figure is being claimed as more 'realistic' by the Daily Mail.

Other names include Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who has been linked with Everton, Jean-Clair Todibo - who was involved in a bust-up with Nuno following the recent loss at Newcastle United - Konstantinos Mavrapanos and El Hadji Malick Diouf - also wanted by Manchester United.

The likes of Edson Alvarez, Soungoutou Magassa, Crysencio Summerville and £26m January signing, Taty Castellanos, who netted six goals in 18 Premier League appearances, have also been the subject of exit talk as the summer transfer window looms large.

West Ham will hope to retain the services of some star names in the EFL Championship

Nuno, of course, is no stranger to lifting the Championship, having done so eight years ago with Wolves, with the West Midlands outfit having a rather star-studded lineup at the time which included the likes of Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota.

The 52-year-old will be under no illusions as to how difficult the second tier will be for West Ham, as they are now going to be viewed as a 'big fish in a small pond', especially when factoring in the facilities at the club's disposal.

Therefore, whilst player sales are often par for the course after relegation, the Portuguese will hope that not all of the above names will go out of the exit door, although Football League World have exclusively revealed some contingency plans, with Sheffield United left-back, Harrison Burrows, among their defensive targets in the eventuality that Diouf does move on to pastures new between now and the end of the transfer window.