West Ham are finally making the relegation battle worth tuning in for

Beware, West Ham fans: your team is starting to show some signs of life in the Premier League.

Successive losses to Wolves and Nottingham Forest at the start of the year made their season look as good as over but, just like that, two wins against Tottenham and Sunderland have pulled them back to within five points of safety.

Those wins were West Ham’s first since early November and might finally be a sign that Nuno Espirito Santo can make a difference in their desperate attempts to stay in the division.

Surely they are still favourites to go down?

Of course, but last weekend’s round of fixtures showed that we might be in for a tighter fight at the top and bottom of the league than expected for the remaining 15 games.

If West Ham can find a way to win six or seven of those they could overtake at least one of the sides above them – but who?

Nottingham Forest’s squad looks too good to go down, but they remain inconsistent and have the small matter of the Europa League knockouts to contend with. Leeds are playing well but face four of the top five before the end of February. Crystal Palace don’t look like they can buy a win at the moment and Spurs play Man City, Man United, Newcastle and Arsenal in their next four.

If the Hammers end next month within touching distance of one or two of those teams, anything could happen.

Why have West Ham struggled this season?

Take your pick of issues. Ten years after leaving Upton Park and the atmosphere at the London Stadium still tends to be either non-existent or incredibly angry.

The manager was brought in to replace an under-performing Graham Potter in September. Potter’s record at West Ham was poor – the former Brighton boss lost over half of his 23 league games in charge and picked up just 23 points in that time.

Espirito Santo hasn’t fared much better and could also face the sack, having lost exactly half of his league games in charge and winning just four in 18.

The club also started their season by selling one of their best players in Mohamed Kudus, and just this week have lost another one: Lucas Paqueta.

Why did West Ham sell Lucas Paqueta?

Selling your best players in the midst of a relegation battle isn’t usually the advice given to struggling clubs.

But Lucas Paqueta had been unhappy at West Ham for a considerable amount of time, and struggled to find consistency this season after being cleared of FA match-fixing charges last summer.

So when the Brazilian’s boyhood club Flamengo came in with a £36.5million bid this week, in some way it made sense to cash in.

At statement from the club said: ‘Lucas has made it clear that, for personal and family reasons, he wishes to return home to Brazil and make a fresh start after being cleared in July 2025 of FA misconduct charges that took two years to be resolved – a situation that caused him significant mental strain.

‘Despite the Club doing everything possible to persuade Lucas to stay, he has remained adamant that his wish is to leave. Therefore, the Head Coach and the Club have reluctantly agreed to accept his transfer request.’

It hasn’t been the most exciting of transfer windows in a January where West Ham are looking to add goals to the team.

Fulham’s Adama Traore has joined to link up with Santo after their time together at Wolves, but the Spaniard has only scored more than three times in a season twice in ten years.

Striker Taty Castellanos joined from Lazio after scoring just twice in Serie A this season and was joined by Brazilian Pablo – a forward who was ripping up the Portuguese league before making the big move to England… sound familiar?

Summerville and Bowen are key to their survival

There have been some green shoots – Crysencio Summerville has stepped up in recent weeks, and his teammates would do well to get him and Jarrod Bowen the ball in space as often as possible.

Ten of the Dutchman’s 29 shots this season came against Spurs and Sunderland, and he netted in both.

The winger was highly regarded when signed from Leeds in 2024, but a bad hamstring injury meant he missed much of last season.

There have been rumours that Roma are trying to sign Sumerville before the transfer deadline on 2 February, a move that would surely spell disaster for the rest of the season.

The Hammers have a fourth round FA Cup trip to Burton Albion waiting on Valentine’s Day – but if they beat Burnley and nick a result against either Chelsea or Manchester United between now and then, who knows what might happen?

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