How West Ham's lethal new £351m starting line-up could look if late window deals are completed

It’s been a summer transfer window focused on evolution rather than revolution for Graham Potter with three paid signings supplementing an aging West Ham squad that doesn’t look it will see many more new faces before the end of the window.

West Ham’s unsuccessful attempts to flog Tomas Soucek, Nayef Aguerd, Guido Rodriguez, Emerson Palmieri and Edson Alvarez - all over or approaching 30 - have hamstrung them in the transfer market though their trio of marquee arrivals have all been for significant fees, at an average of £23.7 million.

It certainly stands in stark contrast to the expenditure of West Ham’s opponents on opening weekend, Sunderland, who will hope to drag the Hammers into a relegation scrap.

But with a full preseason under his belt and signings still to make, Potter has the tools to turn this West Ham team into one of the more surprising success stories of the season and these are the players that could help him do it…

New signings could fix West Ham’s defence

Mads Hermansen (£20m), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£15m), Jean-Clair Todibo (£36m), Maximilian Kilman (£40m), Nayef Agueard (£30m), El Hadji Malick Diouf (£19m)

Mads Hermansen was a rare bright spark in an otherwise limp Leicester City last season and is a quality Premier League-proven pickup for Potter, who knows he must improve the third-worst surviving defence last season.

In front of the Dane, Konstantinos Mavropanos has picked up minutes in pre-season but appears to be on the outside looking into Potter’s strongest side which should instead feature loanee-turned-permanent addition for around £36m Jean-Clair Todibo, Max Kilman and Nayef Aguerd at the heart of defence.

Kyle Walker-Peters has been signed to provide support to Aaron Wan-Bissaka at right wing-back but it’s hard to see West Ham’s reigning player of the year, still only 27, being usurped in the starting XI on a regular basis.

On the opposite flank, El Hadji Malick Diouf could be West Ham’s most impactful new arrival this season. The former Slavia Prague full-back shone in the Premier League Summer Series, bombing up the left to service the strike partnership and finished the tournament joint-top of the assist charts (with one assist… ignore that bit) as he provides a quality compliment to the more defensively minded Wan-Bissaka.

Mateus Fernandes signing could boost West Ham midfield

James Ward-Prowse (£30m), Mateus Fernandes (£58m), Lucas Paqueta (£51m)

It’s been a glacially slow process, but West Ham are edging closer to the arrival of Mateus Fernandes from Southampton. The Saints want teams to emulate Romeo Lavia’s £58m fee to Chelsea but as the window draws to a close, they may come down closer to West’s £30m opening bid.

Having just turned 21, Fernandes would be a revelation in the West Ham midfield as someone who’s quite simply adept at doing everything a midfielder needs to do - win possession back, drive up the pitch with the ball at his feet or spray the right pinpoint pass of any length to create an opportunity to shoot and score.

He was Southampton’s best player last season and would bring the best out of James Ward-Prowse and Lucas Paqueta alongside him - Potter will hope the Brazilian can be like a new signing and get back to his best now the threat of a lifetime suspension for gambling has been lifted.

Assuming Fernandes does arrive, it’s a fairly settled midfield.

Pressure on high-profile strike partnership for West Ham

Jarrod Bowen (£25m), Niclas Fullkrug (£27m)

Niclas Fullkrug became the latest in a long and illustrious line of players to succumb to West Ham’s striker curse while Evan Ferguson also failed to make an impact up front before returning to whence he came, but the German’s 2024/25 campaign was ravaged by injuries.

Fullkrug started just six Premier League games and scored three times, but he’s enjoyed an electric pre-season, scoring three goals in four matches against Everton, Manchester United and Lille. If the 32-year-old can stay fit he could be set for a vintage 12 months in claret and blue and will feel like another new signing, so that strike partnership with Jarrod Bowen should be a sight to behold.

Interest in Bowen from other clubs this summer never really reached the levels predicted ahead of the transfer window, after the 28-year-old contributed to half of West Ham’s Premier League goals.

He’ll need to be at his best once again given the loss of Mohamed Kudus’ goal contributions that haven’t really been replenished this summer. The Ghanaian boasts 25 in the last two Premier League seasons and the pressure will be on a hopefully revitalised Fullkrug and Paqueta to make up the numbers.

Given Callum Wilson’s pre-season struggles there doesn’t appear to be too much competition here entering the season, meanwhile having got injured immediately after Potter took over at the London Stadium, it remains to be seen how winger Crysencio Summerville factors into the manager’s plans.