Igor returns to Seagullspublished at 19:34 GMT 27 January
19:34 GMT 27 January
Image source, Getty Images
Brighton defender Igor Julio has returned to the Seagulls after a loan spell at West Ham.
The 27-year-old, who joined Brighton in 2023, played just four times for the Hammers having joined on loan in September.
Albion's sporting director Jason Ayto said: "We're very pleased to welcome Igor back to the club. He will now be part of the squad going forward, and his return gives us added competition and cover in defence for the remainder of the season."
'A swagger about the squad again'published at 14:56 GMT 27 January
14:56 GMT 27 January
James Jones Fan writer
Image source, Getty Images
West Ham have won three games in a row in all competitions, and all of a sudden some confidence has been injected into the football club.
Victories against Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup, and Tottenham and Sunderland in the Premier League have alleviated a lot of the pressure on Nuno Espirito Santo's shoulders after a run of incredibly damaging defeats by Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Fulham left the club seven points adrift of safety.
The gap is now five points, which means there's still a lot of work to be done. But aside from the uptick in form, it has been the performances in the recent wins which have been the most pleasing to see.
There's a bit of a swagger about the squad again, especially evident in Saturday's impressive 3-1 victory over Sunderland. The players are very clearly playing for the manager and, most importantly, for each other.
Crysencio Summerville's three goals in as many games will have boosted his confidence no end, while the arrival of new forward signings Taty Castellanos and Pablo has allowed Jarrod Bowen to return to his favoured position on the right wing. Mateus Fernandes is thriving in midfield in the absence of Lucas Paqueta.
Defensively, there are still issues we desperately need to fix in the final week of the winter transfer window - one clean sheet all season is just not good enough - but going forward and in the middle of the park, we look far more like a team which is more than good enough to compete at this level.
That's the most encouraging aspect as we enter the final 15 league games of the season.
If the squad can keep up this form, continue to show the same level of hunger and, hopefully, start keeping more clean sheets, the pressure will well and truly be on Leeds and Nottingham Forest to keep the Hammers behind them.
'Now feels the right time' - fans on likely Paqueta exitpublished at 11:35 GMT 27 January
11:35 GMT 27 January
Image source, Getty Images
We asked for your views on how you feel about Lucas Paqueta's impending exit? Do West Ham need to go into the market to replace him? Or should they invest the proceeds elsewhere?
Here are some of your comments:
Kevin: Let him move on. I will forever be grateful for "that" pass in Prague but all too often he's been a liability. Poor decisions on the ball lead to a loss of possession followed by throwing himself to the floor in an effort to con the ref. That rarely worked. Take the money and reinvest it in a decent centre back - we already have enough in midfield.
Joe: Mateus Fernandes is a very different option to Paqueta. Fernandes is a grafter with an eye for goal or a through pass. Lucas is a great player but he is a liability in a struggling side like ours. Time to get a good price for him and buy a decent center half.
James: It was surely only a matter of time before Paqueta left after everything he has experienced. He has been a great player for the club but now feels the right time to move on for both parties. On recent performances Fernandes has shown he can step up. I would also like to see Ward-Prowse get some game time too.
Gary: Have thought for a long while that even with his undoubted skill Paqueta has been holding us back by falling down too much. Lewis Orford or George Earthy could have been better but now Fernandes is certainly doing the job.
Aaron: Yes definitely. Sell Paqueta and get a proper centre back or defensive midfielder.
'Two very bright lights blinking in the gloom'published at 09:17 GMT 27 January
09:17 GMT 27 January
Pat Nevin Former footballer and presenter
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West Ham have looked ponderous for most of the season but there are two very bright lights blinking in the gloom.
Mateus Fernandes' stunner from distance and Crysencio Summerville's bullet header insured they both shone again when facing Sunderland.
There is now a glimmer of hope growing at London Stadium after two wins in a row.
Lucas Paqueta is doubtless a very talented footballer but it actually looks better now the rest of the team are not relying on him or dealing with his foibles.
Just as well, given he looks like he's leaving.
Add to that the lift given by Pablo and Taty Castellanos and suddenly Nottingham Forest, even after their win at Brentford, and those just above, are much more concerned.
Can Fernandes replicate Paqueta's creative spark?published at 17:01 GMT 26 January
17:01 GMT 26 January
Nat Hayward BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty Images
When West Ham made Mateus Fernandes their third-biggest signing ever in a deal worth more than £30m in August, there would have almost certainly been a feeling that his creativity could help mitigate Lucas Paqueta's impending exit.
Paqueta had two years remaining on his contract at London Stadium, had just been cleared of allegedly getting booked deliberately by an independent regulatory commission, and never looked likely to extend after a turbulent past few years both on and off the pitch.
Fernandes was known for his attacking output, technical quality and role in build-up as well as his high work-rate and pressing while at Southampton, but he has been used in a more defensive role so far in east London.
The Brazil international had started 18 of the club's first 21 Premier League matches, but he has been absent for their latest two - impressive victories over Tottenham and Sunderland.
In his absence, Fernandes - who has made 20 starts and one substitute appearance this season - assisted Crysensio Summerville's opener at Spurs and followed it up with a long-range thunderbolt against the Black Cats.
In both of these games the 21-year-old started in a central midfield position alongside Tomas Soucek, giving him more protection to break forward and join new attacking signings Pablo and Taty Castellanos.
Interestingly, Fernandes and Paqueta compare similarly when analysing their creativity.
In the Premier League, both Paqueta and Fernandes have created 23 chances this season, both have 16 dribbles completed, 16 successful take-ons, both have crossed the ball 35 times, and both have registered five goal involvements.
Paqueta has made 387 successful passes in the opposition half to Fernandes' 383, and leads the way for passes into the final third and through balls, but the Portugal international has completed more successful long passes and completed more progressive carries.
While West Ham will surely look to reinvest in the market should Paqueta's departure be completed, with Pablo and Castellanos already through the door, more onus will be placed on Fernandes to add guile and imagination and provide invention in the final third.
He looks ready to do just that.
With the news that Paqueta looks set for a £35m move to Flamengo, how do you feel about his impending exit? Do West Ham need to go into the market to replace him? Or should they invest it elsewhere?
Joe: After seeing that performance, I think we have a great chance at another great escape. Solid and positive performance makes me think we can have a good end to this terrible season. Crysencio Summerville is a menace and our defence is acting right. Hope is back in East London.
Colin: This was the first day West Ham played like West Ham. Quick on the break and slick in passing. Is it a new dawn, or false hope? Fingers crossed it's the former.
Ian: This performance and result has been building for a few weeks. Barring some bad, and some dubious calls, we would have won away at Brighton and at home to Nottingham Forest. The work rate, movement and directness has all improved. A long way to go but some small shoots of hope now!
Peter: This is what we have been waiting for. The team took just a few minutes to settle, then gave the Irons fans 40 minutes to savour. The second half began worryingly with a return to dithering and more negative play. Sunderland had 15 minutes on top, but it never felt like they would score again until injury time when both teams hit the woodwork. It was was great to see a match where football was the winner.
Sue: What an improvement. The players seemed to know where each other were and attacked more. If they keep playing like that they will get out of trouble.
Sunderland fans
Adam: Very poor. We clearly lacked Granit Xhaka's leadership. Poor line-up and need improvements. Still an excellent season, but hopefully just a minor bump in the road.
David: The wrong selection and wrong formation. We'd almost lost the match before kick off with that combination of players starting. West Ham probably couldn't believe their luck at how disjointed and lacking in cohesion Sunderland were. An avoidable bad performance which makes it very frustrating as points were dropped unnecessarily.
Kev: Bad day at the office. But having said that, Romaine Mundle and Eliezer Mayenda offer nothing to the team. I feel sorry for Wilson Isidor as he should play with Brian Brobbey. He can drop deep, use his pace and leave Brobbey up on his own while supporting. Trai Hume had a mare. Onwards and upwards. One poor performance is nothing to worry about.
Colin: Got exactly what we deserved. Even though our best player wasn't playing this is no excuse as we can not rely on one player all the time. We take it on the chin and move on.
George: All too often Hume is a liability. Poor passing coupled with too much shirt pulling. Petulance and arguing with officials is too common among others.
West Ham analysis: Bowen inspires resurgent Hammerspublished at 17:08 GMT 24 January
17:08 GMT 24 January
Joe Rindl BBC Sport journalist
Image source, Getty Images
On 6 January, West Ham lost 2-1 at home to Nottingham Forest and found themselves seven points off safety and on a 10-match winless run.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side have since won both their Premier League games to reignite their survival hopes.
The home side hardly put a foot wrong in the first half, contributing to an electric atmosphere inside London Stadium.
Once again the Hammers were inspired by captain Bowen who contributed a goal and an assist in 14 first-half minutes.
In doing so the 29-year-old Englishman became the outright Premier League goal involvements leader for West Ham (102 - 62 goals and 40 assists), overtaking Michail Antonio (101).
Striker Callum Wilson, who has been linked with a January move, was given a warm reception by the home fans when he came on in the second half.
Lucas Paqueta, who is also rumoured to be on the move, was not in the Hammers' squad. James Ward-Prowse was an unused substitute as he was part of Nuno's squad for the first time.
West Ham 3-1 Sunderland: What Nuno saidpublished at 17:07 GMT 24 January
17:07 GMT 24 January
Media caption,
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo, spoke to BBC Match of the Day after his side's victory over Sunderland: "We played good, I'm always positive that things can improve, but clearly the connections, combinations, knowledge of each other as players are starting to happen.
"Things we are doing on the training ground are starting to be reflected on the pitch, and for me that is a joy.
"The mental side [is important]. We have to keep the momentum, we came from a good win. It was important to start the game this way with the same energy. The boys did it, we had a very good first half. We improved a lot in terms of managing the game, the tempo in the second half, knowing that Sunderland would react.
"We defended well, managed the time well, the possession, try to keep some threat in our attack. Overall, it was a good performance.
"The fans are giving back what we are asking, they support, sing, and today I think they are happy."
On the absence of Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka: "Xhaka is an important player for Sunderland, his absence favoured us. But that doesn't take away from the quality of their squad, that's why they are where they are and they play good football.
"We controlled well, Tomas [Soucek] and Mateus [Fernandes] did very hard work."
On Fernandes' goal: "Happy for him, happy for Crysencio [Summerville] two goals in two rounds, and Jarrod [Bowen] back on the scoring sheet. We need all our attacking players to score to give confidence because they are talented.
On the incident between Xhaka and fans behind the dugouts: "The referee came to me and said some incident happened, I hope it is solved. I don't know."
Did you know?
Jarrod Bowen became the West Ham player with the outright most goal involvements in Premier League history (103 - 63 goals, 40 assists), moving clear of Michail Antonio (101 – 68 goals, 33 assists).
Sunderland midfielder Granit Xhaka has been ruled out of his side's trip to West Ham. The ex-Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen star injured his ankle in Sunderland's last match against Crystal Palace say the club and will now undergo "a period of rehabilitation".
Eliezer Mayenda replaces him in the Sunderland starting XI.
You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Manchester City v Wolves" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Bournemouth v Liverpool", for instance.
West Ham United v Sunderland: Key stats and talking pointspublished at 19:00 GMT 23 January
19:00 GMT 23 January
Chris Adams BBC Sport journalist
A stoppage-time victory at Spurs last week ended West Ham United's 10-game winless run and means the Hammers will have their tails up for the visit of the Sunderland on Saturday – but they still lay claim to an unwanted defensive record.
Unsound defence
West Ham's current run of 19 games without a clean sheet is the joint worst of any club in Europe's top five leagues. Seventeen of those have come since Nuno Espirito Santo took over in September and the Portuguese head coach will know his side, stuck in 18th, must shed that defensive frailty if they are to lift themselves out of the relegation zone.
The Irons have the leakiest defence in the English top flight this season, while a league-high 12 of their 44 goals conceded have been headers – despite boasting regular centre-back options of Max Kilman (6ft 4in), Jean-Clair Todibo (6ft 3in) and Konstantinos Mavropanos (6ft 4in).
Wantaway striker Callum Wilson was the hero last Saturday, prompting the powers that be at London Stadium to change tack over his future. The Englishman now looks set to stay until the end of the season, despite the recent arrival of fellow forwards Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos.
West Ham's home record against promoted side is encouraging – they've lost just one of their last 21 – but they'll be wary of a Sunderland outfit who blew them away in the second half of a 3-0 walloping at the Stadium of Light on the opening day.
Dogged Black Cats continue to impress
If Sunderland can follow up that August win with another in east London, it will mark just their second Premier League double over West Ham, having previously achieved it in 2010-11 – ominously, the last time the Hammers were relegated.
The Black Cats, who sit ninth, are unbeaten at home – only league leaders Arsenal can say the same – and have lost just one of their past eight games in all competitions.
Regis le Bris' side are becoming increasingly notable for their resilience after going behind, a quality they showed again during last week's 2-1 win over Crystal Palace. They have won 16 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season, second only to Aston Villa's tally of 18.
With 33 points from 22 games, Sunderland are the best-performing promoted side in 16 years. Alex McLeish's Birmingham City in 2009-10 were the last newcomers to have as many points at this stage of the season.
Durable Granit's work is top
Some shrewd summer signings have played their part in that success, and none more so than Granit Xhaka. The Switzerland captain, 33, has played the most minutes of any outfield player in the Sunderland squad.
And despite his reputation as a midfield schemer, the former Arsenal player has offered his new employer a perhaps surprising weapon in attack. Xhaka's role in Enzo le Fee's equaliser against Crystal Palace last weekend means he has made eight line-breaking passes that have led to a goal, more than any other player in the division this season.
Sutton's predictions: West Ham v Sunderlandpublished at 18:33 GMT 23 January
18:33 GMT 23 January
Sunderland's 3-0 win over West Ham on the opening weekend really set the tone for both teams' seasons, but it doesn't really help me much here.
The Hammers' win at Tottenham last week was extraordinary given their form going into that game, but their home record is still extremely poor.
Sunderland, meanwhile, are not the same force on the road as they are at the Stadium of Light, and they have not won away since the end of October.
Still, it has been such a strange season, with everyone beating everyone, that form, history, tables and stats are not really much help with these predictions anyway.
In the past few weeks, I have thought too much about AI and gone down the stat route to try to beat it at its own game, but that's not how I won the predictions title in previous seasons.
I need to go with my gut instinct more, and that's what I'm doing here.
Nuno on Wilson future, Ward-Prowse rumours and needing 'more'published at 14:43 GMT 22 January
14:43 GMT 22 January
Nicola Pearson BBC Sport journalist
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Sunderland at London Stadium (kick-off 12:30 GMT).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Nuno said they will "assess" new signing Keiber Lamadrid but feels he is "not really ready" to come into the squad with his last competitive fixture in December.
The West Ham boss also confirmed that Lucas Paqueta's situation is "the same as last week" and he will not be included for this match, however, he hopes the club and player can "find a solution".
On Callum Wilson's future, after the striker scored the winner against Tottenham last weekend: "Callum give us the winning goal in a match we consider so important and special for fans. It was beautiful to see, and happy to take those three points. Callum is an option, we know what he can give us, he is working and available so is an important player."
However, he added: "You never know what can happen. Meanwhile, the window is open, so many surprises can happen. Players that are here in the building, we are counting on them."
Nuno would not be drawn into questions about whether the club are in discussions with fellow relegation battlers Burnley over a possible transfer for James Ward-Prowse, stating "rumours are noise, rumours are things not for us to address" and added: "Me and James have had conversations and it has been clear. He is here today, working, and tomorrow will be the same. I don't waste time on rumours and speculation."
While West Ham's hierarchy also look for players for the long-term, Nuno said his "focus is now" and the club "know the profiles we need - we need to rebalance the squad".
On comments around wanting even more from players like Crysencio Summerville: "More consistency. More. Instead of one or two goals - more. Instead of one or two assists - more. We want that because the talent is there. We try to give to our players that they can do more. We are pushing them because we need more, and more and more."
'Incredible opportunity' - Lamadrid joins on loanpublished at 13:50 GMT 22 January
13:50 GMT 22 January
Image source, Getty Images
West Ham United have completed the loan signing of Venezuela winger Keiber Lamadrid for the remainder of the season.
The 22-year-old joins from Deportivo La Guaira in his homeland, and the Hammers have the option to make the move permanent in the summer.
Keiber has made 103 appearances for the Venezuelan Super Cup holders - whose season ended in early December.
He will work on physical conditioning with West Ham's medical team to get up to match fitness.
"It's an incredible opportunity to be here at this beautiful Club," Keiber told club media.
"I thank God first of all, and all the people who helped me get here. I also thank my family, who always supported me. For me, it's a dream to be here.
"I'm excited to grow as a person, as a player, and I want to do well at this club. I want to adapt as quickly as possible, to continue growing as a player and open doors again for Venezuelan football. Nothing is impossible."
A season of injuries - how does your club rank?published at 08:33 GMT 22 January
08:33 GMT 22 January
Matthew Hobbs BBC Sport journalist
From the Premier League's elite to the soggy pitches of Sunday league, injuries are part and parcel of football - but which top-flight teams have been worst affected so far this season?
With help from injury expert Ben Dinnery, of premierinjuries.com,, external BBC Sport has examined which sides have been hit the hardest, the impact injuries can have on under-fire managers - and whether things are always as bad as they seem.
'Breweries, hotels and restaurants' - commercial revenue key in Deloitte studypublished at 08:32 GMT 22 January
08:32 GMT 22 January
Liverpool generated more revenue than any other English club during the 2024-25 season, according to the annual Deloitte Money League survey.
In the survey's 29th season, the Reds brought in more than 836m euros (£729.5m). The figure moved the Reds from eighth in 2023-24 to fifth overall, while Manchester City dropped from second to sixth.
Manchester United dropped from fourth to eighth with the club's broadcast revenue falling from €258m (£225m) to €206m (£180m) largely due to a lack of Champions League football.
Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea each occupy the exact same positions in the Money League as last season, while Aston Villa moved up four spots. Newcastle and West Ham remain in the top 20, despite both dropping in position.
Across the study, clubs cumulatively reported record revenues of €12.4bn, an increase of 11% on 2023-24.
A major feature of the study points to clubs generating most of their revenue commercially, with about 43% of income coming from this source. Broadcast revenue and matchday income continue to take up smaller pieces of the revenue pie.
Tim Bridge, lead partner in the Deloitte Sports Business Group, said: "This year's Money League showcases the evolving commercial landscape of elite football, with clubs continuing to take greater ownership of their revenue-generating capabilities. It is no coincidence that the clubs in the top half of the ranking are those with the ability to focus on commercial revenue development, particularly as domestic broadcast rights plateau.
"There is a pivotal shift in some club business models with an increased focus on maximising the impact of their brand and their stadium assets. The presence of on-site breweries, hotels and restaurants is now commonplace and illustrates a strategic move to diversify income and create year-round entertainment destinations. This innovative approach is broadening revenue streams significantly, allowing clubs to unlock opportunities far beyond the traditional matchday experience in a drive to secure more sustainable financial futures."
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