Declan Rice’s sale was poignant, to be sure, but the West Ham United general won the Conference League in his final match for the club and served as a centrepiece of the meteoric rise under David Moyes.
Indeed, the England international completed 245 appearances for the Irons, scoring 15 goals and supplying 13 assists. His efforts at the club led to widespread acclaim, with his former manager hailing his “incomparable” qualities.
Of course, his sale called for replacements. Arsenal won the race and purchased Rice for £105m, a club record in both directions, but a player of that calibre was never going to be directly recovered.
Instead, West Ham replaced him in the aggregate, with James Ward-Prowse among the incomings.
Why West Ham signed James-Ward Prowse
James Ward-Prowse completed a transfer worth £30m to West Ham in August 2023, joining Edson Alvarez in bolstering the Hammers midfield after losing their linchpin.
1.
David Beckham
18
2.
James Ward-Prowse
17
3.
Thierry Henry
12
3=
Gianfranco Zola
12
3=
Cristiano Ronaldo
12
The former Southampton captain had made a career from his expertise in dead-ball situations. Indeed, only David Beckham has scored more direct free-kicks than the England international, which is quite something. Moreover, one more free-kick goal would place him alongside the Manchester United legend.
The midfielder might have finished the 2023/24 campaign, his sole term in West Ham garb, with a respectable haul of seven goals and 11 assists across 51 matches, however, outside of that aforementioned dead-ball prowess, he left plenty to be desired.
Lopetegui clearly wasn’t a big fan, allowing him to be loaned out to Nottingham Forest this summer after bringing in his own bunch of players.
The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas remarked that “he would have been a good option from the bench”, but perhaps a marginal role was something that the 29-year-old would not abide.
He’s since played four times for Forest and was sent off against Chelsea last weekend after stopping a counter-attack with a peculiar diving effort to stifle Nicolas Jackson.
It’s clearly not been the trajectory anyone would have wished for after just one season of football, and he’s definitely not proved himself to be money-well-spent after Rice’s departure from east London.
It’s a shame that West Ham failed to sign their first-choice target last year, with efforts made to sign Conor Gallagher from Chelsea but coming short. Imagine what could have been.
West Ham missed a trick with Conor Gallagher
In July 2023, West Ham bid £40m in an attempt to sign Gallagher from Chelsea, though their efforts fell flat with Mauricio Pochettino unwilling to part with a player he would later call “priceless”. It would have been a significant move from United, who would have benefitted greatly from the player’s industriousness.
Gallagher had risen through the ranks with Chelsea and played 95 times, scoring ten goals and assisting as many more, after a series of successful loan spells with the likes of West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace.
Despite playing a central role under Pochettino’s wing last season, very much the lifeblood of Chelsea’s campaign as they sought to put the woes of recent years behind them, the spinning of the managerial wheel at Stamford Bridge spelt the end of the boyhood Blues’ stay, for he was about to enter the final year of his contract and looked set to play a peripheral role under Enzo Maresca.
Atletico Madrid came a-calling, offering the 24-year-old a fresh start. In August, he was signed for a fee of around £33m, ending his career in English football – for now, at least – and snapping any frayed cord from West Ham that clung to the prospect of keeping the centre-midfielder on the radar.
He’s averaged 2.6 tackles and 5.6 successful duels per game in La Liga this season, as per Sofascore, underscoring the defensive quality that has not yet been refined and shaped to Diego Simeone’s design, not fully.
Matches (starts)
37 (37)
37 (34)
Non-penalty goals
5
5
Assists
7
12
Pass completion
92%
90%
Big chances created
11
12
Key passes*
1.4
1.7
Ball recoveries*
6.0
3.9
Dribbles completed*
1.3
0.3
Tackles + interceptions
3.5
2.2
Total duels won*
5.7
2.8
It’s clear that he would have been able to operate in a dynamic and tactically flexible role for the Irons, having been praised in the past as a “pressing and transition monster” by one analyst.
Ward-Prowse might appear, on the surface level, to have matched his fellow Englishman for creativity last season, but the lion’s share of his playmaking came from dead-ball situations. Gallagher was far more rounded and effective across different roles and scenarios.
Gallagher performs like a veritable workhorse in the middle of the park, offering a rounded skillset that is truly a thing to behold when purring.
West Ham missed a real trick with this one. Gallagher is now starring for Atletico over in La Liga and could have been the steely presence required last season.
He might have kept Moyes in a job, had he signed. Gallagher might have been the catalyst for sustained success in the wake of conquering the Conference League. Ward-Prowse certainly wasn’t.
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