Team News | Lopetegui provides squad update ahead of Crystal Palace trip. Head Coach Julen Lopetegui is pleased with the progress Edson Álvarez is making on his road to recovery from injury, ahead of Saturday’s Premier League trip to Crystal Palace.
Mexico international Álvarez was absent from the Hammers’ pre-season schedule and last weekend’s home clash against Aston Villa, after sustaining a hamstring problem while competing at the Copa América earlier this summer.
While the 26-year-old continues to work towards adding to his 42 appearances in Claret and Blue, following his arrival at the Club from Ajax little over a year ago, boss Lopetegui hinted that the availability of a handful of other players will become clearer on Friday.
“He [Álvarez] has been out for a long time, and he is progressing well,” Lopetegui said. “But let’s see tomorrow. Like with all of our squad, we will know more then.
“We have had some little problems in our training sessions, but maybe these can be overcome. We’re not too sure at the moment, we’re just going to have to wait and see.”
Of the eight new arrivals at London Stadium during the ongoing transfer window, Maximilian Kilmann and Guido Rodríguez were utilised from the start in the Villa clash, while Jean-Clair Todibo, Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Füllkrug all featured from the bench.
The season is long, and all of the new signings are going to be hugely important for us
Lopetegui commented that after another week of training, each of the recent signings continue to feel more at home in east London, while he is expecting each of them to make a sustained impact over the course of the campaign.
He added: “They’re all in different conditions, because they’ve arrived here at different times and some have been here longer than others. In the end, they need to be ready to play, and they will achieve that step by step.
“It’s up to us to make the decision about when is best to put them in the line-up, and when is best for them to come in and help us improve. But the season is long, and they are all going to be hugely important for us.”
