West Ham will be “in trouble” in the Premier League next season, according to talkSPORT pundit Jordan Jarrett-Bryan.
The East London outfit finished 14th in the 2022/23 campaign, as well as lifting the Europa Conference League trophy.
But talkSPORT pundit Jarrett-Bryan believes the club are in for a relegation battle next season following the loss of captain Declan Rice.
“I’m not going to go as far as saying I think they’ll go down, but I think West Ham this year will be in a relegation battle,” Jarrett-Bryan said live on talkSPORT.
“And the reason why I think they will be in a struggle is because, I think last year for more than three-quarters of the season, they were in a relegation scrap, and they had their talisman Declan Rice, who from the outside looking in just seems to be someone that is able to galvanise that squad, and when it got sticky, drag them through.
“I’m just interested to see how they bounce back this season after what was, league-wise, a really poor season last year. I think they’re in trouble.”
Tough test
West Ham endured a difficult 2022/23 Premier League campaign, with the club in real danger of being relegated to the Championship for quite some time.
The Hammers struggled to find any domestic momentum, with their fantastic European run providing some much-needed distraction from their league struggles.
In the end, however, they managed to secure their safety by some margin, with David Moyes orchestrating some superb displays when the going was getting tough.
Now, however, things will definitely get more difficult for various reasons, one of which is the fact that they will now be stepping up from the Europa Conference League to the Europa League.
But the main reason why a tougher challenge awaits is undoubtedly due to the loss of Rice, with the midfielder having been the club’s standout player for many seasons now.
His presence both on and off the pitch will be sorely missed, but the Hammers should still have more than enough throughout the rest of the squad to avoid relegation once again next season.
In other West Ham news, a transfer development has emerged as one Hammers player is “increasingly likely” to make a switch to another Premier League club.
