Culture at West Ham must change, Luizao situation is stone cold proof of that. West Ham United centre-back Luizao is a good example of everything that’s wrong with the club right now.
Luizao joined West Ham on a free transfer from Sao Paulo way back in January 2023. However, we still haven’t seen the 22-year-old play for the senior team. Amazingly, he remained at the London Stadium beyond the January transfer window, despite the fact that NINE clubs wanted to sign him!
What made the situation even stranger was that Luizao was said to be very keen to leave the Hammers in the winter window.
So why did Graham Potter hang on to him?
Potter and his sidekick Kyle Macaulay have to completely revamp the squad at West Ham, but they need to address the weak culture at the club as well.
A good start in that quest would be getting rid of the deadwood at the end of this season.
Culture at West Ham must change, Luiazo is proof of that
A lot of hard work needs to go in to changing the way things operate at the London Stadium.
We seem to have developed a culture whereby mediocrity is accepted, and it’s just not good enough. Luizao represents hard evidence that the Hammers don’t operate with an elite mentality.
There is no way that any top tier club would still be holding on to the 22-year-old Brazilian.
He is quite clearly not good enough to play at the very highest level. If he was, he would have been given a chance by David Moyes, Julen Lopetegui and now Graham Potter. The South American centre-back has been at the club for just over two years now.
He has only played games for the under-21s so far, with not one single minute under his belt for the senior side. He still looks very rugged and raw, and considering the fact that he’ll be 23 next month, I think it’s clear to see he’s not Premier League standard.
The fact that he’s still at the club is a sad indictment of the way things are run at the London Stadium.
Luizao not good enough, it’s a sad indictment on West Ham
The thing is, I’m not against the club making signings like Luizao in the first place.
Sometimes you have to take a risk on unpolished gems, just in case they do indeed go on to become stars.
The thing is, this one hasn’t worked out for the Hammers. It was very clear to see within six months that Luizao was never going to make it at the very highest level with West Ham.
Amazingly though, he’s still at the London Stadium, more than two years after joining us!
He is still under contract with the Hammers until the summer of 2026. Potter and Macaulay should be doing everything in their power to move him on at the end of the season. Even if that means releasing him for nothing, it will be a sign that the club are starting to operate with the correct mentality.
