West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini is ready to sanction the departures of six Hammers players this summer, according to Claret & Hugh.
The reliable Hammers news source claims that left back Arthur Masuaku, midfielders Carlos Sanchez and Pedro Obiang, and attackers Javier Hernandez, Lucas Perez and Andy Carroll could all be offloaded come the end of the season.
The club is looking to raise up to £30million from players sales, with that money being earmarked for additions at left back and up front. Carroll, who is out of contract in the summer, is the only player from the aforementioned half-dozen who wouldn’t fetch a transfer fee.
It is thought that Obiang would fetch around £6million, Hernandez £10million, Perez £3million, Sanchez £3million, while Masuaku is also expected to secure the club a respectable fee as part of the planned mini-exodus at the London Stadium.
OPINION
This is quite something, isn’t it? Obviously there are a number of West Ham squad players who seem destined for the exit door come the end of the season, but for the club to offload six players all at once is a bit surprising. Carroll, to be fair, doesn’t seem long for the London Stadium. He has been given numerous chances in recent weeks but has yet to fully convince as a Hammers starter. Perez, likewise, has done next to nothing since moving across London from Arsenal last summer. Masuaku is another one who doesn’t appear to have much of a future at the club having seemingly lost his first team battle with Aaron Cresswell this campaign. Hernandez and Obiang have been decent contributors this term, while Sanchez hasn’t had much of a chance to do anything after a season ending injury early on in his Hammers tenure. Selling both Sanchez and Obiang would leave the team a little light in central midfield, too, so it might be worth keeping one of them around.