West Ham United

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Managers will always outwardly support their players on the international stage, but you can be sure one or two will privately be hoping for an early exit from Euro 2024 for a few of their star men.

International tournament summers disrupt pre-season for managers.

Various players from different nations return to their clubs at different times, sometimes with injuries, holidays get postponed and rescheduled. As a general rule, the best players are more likely to play for the best nations and therefore go further in international tournaments.

The Euro 2024 final will take place on 14 July. Over half of Premier League clubs already have a pre-season fixture scheduled within 10 days of that.

Of English clubs, unsurprisingly, Premier League champions Manchester City have comfortably the most players in the Euro 2024 knockouts. The best represented Premier League side at the start of the competition have a full line-up of 11 stars still in Germany.

They are followed by the rest of last season's top three - Arsenal and Liverpool - who have eight and seven respectively. Manchester United also have seven while Brentford - aided by their healthy Danish contingent - have six and Crystal Palace five.

Championship play-off winners Southampton's three representatives were all eliminated at the group stage, while fellow newly promoted side Ipswich have not seen their summer impacted at all by players at Euro 2024.

Of the Championship-winning Leicester squad, goalkeeper Mads Hermansen and defenders Wout Faes and Jannik Vestergaard remain in Germany - as does Turkey's Yunus Akgun, who spent last season on loan with the Foxes.

This data was provided by Opta and counts the clubs where players finished at the end of the 2023-24 season.

West Ham and Tottenham have joined the race to sign 22-year-old English winger Jaden Philogene from Hull City. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Image source, Reuters

We asked for your thoughts on players at the Euros that would fit in well at West Ham.

Here is a flavour of your suggestions:

Michael: Romelu Lukaku for me. A no-brainer at a reported £30m.

Will: Georges Mikautadze [of Georgia] would be a great signing. He easily makes the first team with his strength to hold up the ball and his composure in the box.

Sticks: I saw Ferdi KadIoglu play on the left for Fenerbahce when I went to get new teeth in Istanbul in January - he's a brilliant left-sided player that has skill. He doesn't mind getting stuck in going backwards or showing flair going forwards and I thought he'd be a good Premier League player. I'd be happy to see him in claret and blue!

David: We need to push to sign Riccardo Calafiori of Italy. A centre-half who is comfortable on the ball, skilful and prone to the odd lapse - perfect. Also from Italy, Nicolo Barella to toughen up the midfield. He has most things, with leadership being top.

Gabe: West Ham need players under Julen Lopetegui who can play different roles in different stages of the game. At Sevilla, he utilised a striker that can come deep to collect the ball and wingers who can track back and come inside the box to score. I think an affordable target that fits this philosophy is Lawrence Shankland at Hearts.

Basketball great Shaquille O'Neal is in talks about taking a stake in West Ham United. (Sun), external

Want more news? Read Thursday's full gossip column

As the Euros group stage comes to a close, how's your scouting report gone?

Who has caught your eye as a perfect signing for West Ham?

And how would they fit into Julen Lopetegui's starting XI?

Give us your suggestions here, external

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Goalkeeper Wes Foderingham says he is "delighted" to join West Ham at a "positive time" for the club.

The 33-year-old has signed a two-year contract with the Hammers and will officially join on 1 July on a free transfer at the end of his contract with Sheffield United.

He made 30 Premier League appearances for the Blades last season.

Foderingham will provide support and competition for West Ham's other two keepers, Alphonse Areola and Lukasz Fabianski.

"It feels brilliant to be a Hammer," he told club media.

"They're a fanbase that care deeply about their football club. It's a family club as well, and I find it's always better to play for a team where you have those supporters cheering you on week in, week out.

"The club has gone from strength to strength and I think I'm joining at a very, very good time."

Hammers technical director Tim Steidten added: "He's had an esteemed career to date, including playing at the very highest level in the Premier League last year for Sheffield United.

"I'm sure that under the guidance of Xavi Valero, both Alphonse and Lukasz will benefit greatly from having another established keeper working alongside them on a daily basis."

Ipswich Town are in advanced talks with 24-year-old West Ham United defender Ben Johnson over a free transfer when his contract expires next week. (East Anglian Daily Times), external

Meanwhile, the Hammers will allow 31-year-old English forward Danny Ings to leave this summer with his former side Southampton registering their interest. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer news? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

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West Ham are among the clubs interested in Watford midfielder Ismael Kone, who also has interest from Marseille and Roma.

The Canada international, 22, is among the players who could be sold by Watford to fund future signings.

Kone is currently away with the Canada national team at the Copa America in the United States after completing a 46-game season in the Championship.

Interest from all three clubs remains at an early stage but Kone is expected to leave Vicarage Road this summer.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Wes Foderingham is expected to have a medical at West Ham this week. The 33-year-old will leave relegated Sheffield United when his contract expires on 30 June.

Goalkeeper Nathan Trott left the Hammers, now managed by former Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui, last weekend to join Copenhagen.

Mohammed Kudus has been linked with a move away from West Ham but the club have not had any bids for the forward. (Sky Germany), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

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Julen Lopetegui's first home game in charge of West Ham United will be a pre-season fixture against Celta Vigo.

The Spanish side will travel to London Stadium to contest the 2024 Betway Cup on Saturday, 10 August.

It will be the final game of the Hammers' pre-season.

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

West Ham have submitted a £25m bid for Wolves defender Max Kilman - but that is expected to be rejected.

The 27-year-old has made 151 appearances across seven seasons at Molineux and Gary O'Neil is not actively looking to sell the player, who signed a contract to 2028 less than 12 months ago.

Kilman was an ever-present for Wolves last season, scoring twice in three games at the turn of the year.

West Ham fear Ghana winger Mohammed Kudus, 23, will ask to leave the club this summer. (Football Insider), external

West Ham and Nottingham Forest have made contact with Arsenal to discuss the possibility of signing 21-year-old English midfielder Reiss Nelson. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

West Ham are facing a battle to keep Mohammed Kudus, with Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad interested in the winger. (ESPN), external

Southampton are the frontrunners to sign Flynn Downes on a permanent deal after having the midfielder on loan from West Ham last season. (GiveMeSport), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Image source, Reuters

There has been much said and written about Phil Foden's display in England's 1-0 win over Serbia on Sunday, but stats from Uefa show he covered the second-greatest distance of any player during the first round of group matches at Euro 2024.

Only Serbia's Sergey Milinkovic-Savic (13.9km) covered more ground than Manchester City's Foden (13.2km), while England colleagues Declan Rice of Arsenal (12.9km) and Kieran Trippier of Newcastle United (12.3km) were fifth and eighth in the list respectively.

City's Bernardo Silva was seventh with a total of 12.7km in Portugal's 2-1 win over Czech Republic, while Czech captain Tomas Soucek of West Ham was 10th, covering 12.3km.

The fixtures for the new Premier League season are out and we asked you for your predictions on where West Ham United will be after 10 games.

Here is a selection of your comments:

Dave: 10th after 10. There will be a tricky transition to Lopetegui's way of playing - could go either way.

Martin: We had a very good core group of players last season. If we make the right additions we could get off to a great start. With better options to bring on and change games that we are struggling in, I predict we could get 19 points from the first 10 games and be sitting in the European places.

Mark: Too difficult to determine unless you look at all the other teams' first 10 games. But ninth would be good, especially after a new manager, new players and new tactics are in place.

Trevor: West Ham need to have good home form next season. Looking at the opening 10 games, they have both Manchester sides and Chelsea, along with Aston Villa in the first game and Ipswich. Away from London Stadium, we're playing four other London sides - Nottingham Forest away is our 10th game. I will be happy if we are sitting around mid-table, ninth to 11th, then.

West Ham are keen on signing Sunderland's 23-year-old English forward Jack Clarke this summer. (Football Insider), external

Southampton have asked about re-signing Danny Ings from West Ham and are willing to pay up to £6m for the striker. (Mail), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

Image source, PA Media

Wolves are expecting an offer from West Ham for their captain Maximilian Kilman.

BBC Sport understands the Hammers are interested in the 27-year-old centre-back - but it is yet to progress beyond that.

Wolves think West Ham will eventually push forward in their efforts to reunite Kilman with new boss Julen Lopetegui, who worked with the former England futsal international at Molineux.

Wolves are not actively looking to sell the player, who signed a contract to 2028 less than 12 months ago.

However, they are realistic enough to know if the proposed fee reaches the £45m being rumoured, it may force their hand.

Kilman played every minute of all 38 Premier League games for Wolves last season. Arsenal's William Saliba was the only other outfield player to achieve that feat.