OPINION
As much as the West Ham United supporters will be keen for the club to build on their recruitment from a year ago with more summer spending, they will be even more determined that the team’s best players remain where they are.
Star man Declan Rice is constantly being linked with a move away, while Felipe Anderson and Marko Arnautovic both caught the eye at different periods of this season.
However, likely to the delight of the Hammers faithful, Football London reported on Wednesday that all three aforementioned players, the club’s biggest assets, won’t be going anywhere this summer.
That is phenomenal news for the team’s fans, and they will surely be dancing in the streets at this update. West Ham are an ambitious club, there’s no doubt about, but they’re not going to get anywhere by selling their best players.
Rice is their crown jewel, of course. The England international is a tremendous footballer who made a huge breakthrough this campaign. At just 20 years of age, there’s no doubt that there will be big teams looking at him. However, it seems that the Hammers are keen on keeping him around.
Anderson isn’t far behind Rice after the debut season he had in east London. The Brazilian was tremendous, if slightly inconsistent, and is surely only going to get better from now on.
Arnautovic is far and away the least popular of this trio, but he began to show that he was back to top form down the stretch this season. There’s no doubting his talent, and if his head’s screwed on straight he will be a big asset to Manuel Pellegrini’s team once again next time out.
For now, though, the supporters will surely be over the moon at the news that all three players look set to remain at the London Stadium for the foreseeable future.
