Back in January, shortly after Graham Potter replaced Julen Lopetegui in the West Ham United dugout, the picture started to become clear regarding the former Brighton boss’ plans for the Premier League outfit.
West Ham held preliminary talks with Brighton and Hove Albion. The object of their affections, at the time, was a player Potter knew very well indeed from his spell at The Amex.
The £20 million deal which brought Adam Webster to the South Coast from Bristol City was, after all, one of Graham Potter’s first acts in the Seagulls dugout. Five years later, with an expensive central defensive axis of Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Konstantinos Mavropanos proving less-than-convincing, West Ham United looked into the idea of reuniting Potter with one of his most trusted lieutenants.
A few days later, a Brighton player would indeed arrive at the London Stadium.
Rather than Webster, however, it was Evan Ferguson. A man who goes about his business at the other end of the pitch, and one at a very different place in his footballing journey.
West Ham United drop interest in Brighton’s Adam Webster
Five months on, as the summer window opens up and Ferguson prepares to return home following a miserable spell in London, reports linking Adam Webster to the Hammers have been conspicuous by their absence.
This has probably got a lot to do with The Athletic’s suggestion that West Ham have ‘cooled their interest’ in reuniting Potter and the one-time England youth international.
Perhaps the Hammers have been spooked by Webster’s recent injury issues. In addition to missing large spells of late-2024, he was absent for the whole of April with a hamstring issue.
Furthermore, Webster is now 30 years of age. West Ham plan to ‘reinvent’ Graham Potter’s squad this summer, but any rebuild will sit upon a more youthful foundation.
Graham Potter’s Hammers are looking at younger transfer targets
The veteran quartet of Vladimir Coufal, Lukasz Fabianski, Danny Ings and Aaron Cresswell have all been released, after all. The Athletic, meanwhile, reports that West Ham are interested in Anderlecht’s Mario Stroeykens, Manchester City’s James McAtee and Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu, while Club Brugge enforcer Raphael Onyedika is one of their top targets.
Onyedika is the oldest of the four at just 24.
Talks between Onyedika and West Ham are progressing nicely. The £17 million-rated Nigeria international may be too expensive for AC Milan, meanwhile, while personal terms regarding a fresh start in the Premier League are not expected to pose much of an obstacle.
As for their central defensive options, if West Ham are to sign a new defender this summer, it is likely to be one cut from a similar cloth to Adam Webster. Albeit a younger, fitter version.
“He is a quality defender [and] comfortable on the ball,” Potter said when Webster first arrived at Brighton, a possession-obsessed coach valuing his ability to play piercing passes into midfield from the backline.
“He fits the profile of the type of player we want to bring to the club.”
West Ham remain interested in Burnley’s CJ Egan-Riley. A stylish but solid central defender who honed his talents in the Manchester City academy. Another City graduate Taylor Harwood-Bellis is a Hammers target, too.
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