West Ham United face Callum Wilson contract regret as Coventry City eye Premier League return

West Ham United should not have handed Callum Wilson a new contract extension as his old club Coventry City close in on a return to the Premier League.

Wilson joined West Ham last summer on a free transfer after his five years at Newcastle came to an end.

He struggled to find his feet in East London under either Graham Potter or Nuno Espirito Santo, scoring four times in 17 appearances before the turn of the year.

It looked like Wilson was set to leave in January, as rumour spread about his contract potentially being terminated, but a huge goal against Tottenham and the Hammers’ lack of attacking options meant he was kept on.

The 34-year-old recently signed a new contract to extend his stay at the club until 2027, but with West Ham’s financial outlook looking bleak as they battle to survive, the decision could prove to be an obvious mistake.

West Ham should have let Callum Wilson go for free this summer

To put it bluntly, Wilson has shown at West Ham that he is not good enough to be a starting Premier League striker anymore, which is why he has only played 10 times from the off this season.

He has underperformed his xG by 1.67 in the top flight, while he ranks low among forwards for duels won, chances created, successful passes and touches of the ball per 90 minutes.

West Ham signed Taty Castellanos and Pablo to compete for places in attack in the January window, and both have a statistically better all-round game, while the former has shown that he is more clinical in front of goal.

Wilson will be 35 midway through next term, and his game time is already dwindling, with just two starts in the last nine league games.

It makes little sense for the club to want to keep him beyond this summer, especially considering the prospect of relegation, which will be catastrophic for them from a financial point of view.

He has already shown a reluctance to drop into the Championship over the last 12 months, so it seems unlikely that he would want to stay if they did go down, but no club will surely want to buy him out of his contract for a fee.

Coventry move would have been perfect for Wilson, now it seems unlikely

Wilson was born and raised in Coventry, and he came through their youth ranks to make 55 appearances for the club between 2009 and 2014.

He scored 22 goals in the 2013-14 season to earn a move to Bournemouth, and 12 years on, an emotional return could have been on the cards this summer.

Frank Lampard’s side are well clear at the top of the Championship, with promotion almost a formality as long as they remain focused over the next 10 games.

Wilson’s return would surely have been welcomed by all parties this summer if he was out of contract, but the Sky Blues will not want to pay any kind of fee for a 34-year-old striker approaching the final year of his deal.

Football Insider have revealed that numerous West Ham players have relegation clauses in their contracts, but the length of Wilson’s means he most likely does not, and so they could find themselves in a really tough situation regarding his future this summer.

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