One West Ham United midfielder may or may not be playing for us next season and beyond.
Julen Lopetegui will imminently be announced as the new West Ham manager, with David Moyes heading out the door.
The Spaniard is already getting plans in place for his summer transfer business, and boy does he have a lot of work to do.
A main issue that Lopetegui needs to solve is the lack of competition and cover for Edson Alvarez in the middle of the park.
Tomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse both struggle in the defensive midfield role, and are better in a more advanced position.
So with that in mind, the new Hammers boss will have to sign someone to provide genuine cover for Alvarez, unless he plans to reintegrate Flynn Downes into the side.
There is another option for Lopetegui to consider though…
£3 million midfielder comments on West Ham future
There is one option for Lopetegui that most people have probably forgotten about already!
David Moyes signed Andy Irving from SK Austria Klagenfurt on transfer deadline day, and then immediately loaned him back to the Austrian club.
He has enjoyed a successful season with Klagenfurt, but is now set to return to the London Stadium. However, does he have any kind of future back with the Hammers?
Kleine Zeitung spoke to the Hammers midfielder:
Irving said, “I’m really sad”, and then he went on to say, “We’ll see what happens”, when asked whether he has a future at West Ham.
It was recently claimed out in Austria that Irving will ‘definitely’ be a West Ham player next term.
Now it seems as though his future is very much up in the air.
Could Lopetegui give the West Ham midfielder a big chance to impress when he takes over at the London Stadium? That’s doubtful if you ask me.
The Premier League is a huge step up in both quality and intensity from the Austrian top flight, and I have my doubts that he’ll stay with us beyond the end of this summer.
