Leeds United 2 West Ham United 1: YEP video verdict
Football Manager 2026 predicts West Ham’s January transfer window - with surprising results.
West Ham United may well end up being one of the busier Premier League teams when the January transfer window rolls around in a couple of months. After all, they have a new manager with new needs and, frankly, they aren’t doing very well.
The Hammers aren’t likely to have a massive transfer budget to play with but a few shrewd moves probably wouldn’t go amiss to help Nuno Espirito Santo guide his side clear of the drop zone - but who will they end up signing?
We turned to the newly-released Football Manager 2026 to find out who one of the most accurate management simulations in the world reckons will be on their way to the London Stadium in a couple of months’ time, with some rather intriguing results…
Aston Villa pair add some creativity to West Ham squad – according to FM26
Emiliano Buendía – loan with £33m obligation to buy fromAston Villa: Buendía is a solid rotational option for Villa despite a serious ACL injury, but they would probably be delighted to get £33m in the summer for him given that he’ll be turning 30 next December. In the game, he didn’t score a single goal for the Hammers, who survived the drop, but just barely. Not the best buy in our virtual world.
Donyell Malen – loan from Aston Villa: Buendía wasn’t even the only Villa player that West Ham decided to borrow. Malen hasn’t really established himself at Villa Park and has been something of a let-down since his move from Borussia Dortmund in January, and Unai Emery was happy to offload him on a temporary basis in our save. He did, at least, score a couple of goals for our fictional version of West Ham, but they didn’t sign him on a permanent basis.
Salih Özcan - £2.9m from Borussia Dortmund: A hard-grafting Turkish midfielder, Özcan became a back-up for West Ham after completing a budget-friendly move largely made possible by the fact that his contract was running down. Not the most exciting signing, but a solid defensive addition with excellent mental attributes.
Milan van Ewijk - £18.25m from Coventry City: Van Ewijk’s value was largely predicated on one thing – the versatile right-sided player, who can play as a full-back or as a winger, is absolutely rapid. The rest of his stats aren’t so exciting, however, and he doesn’t seem to have made a massive contribution after taking over from Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the right side of a back four.
Trent Kane-Doherty – free from Liverpool: A 20-year-old Irish winger signed as a future prospect, Kane-Doherty didn’t play for West Ham after his free transfer in the game, but like Van Ewijk was clearly signed in part for his pace, of which he has a decent amount. One for the future, and hardly a budget-buster.
Luís Guilherme flops in our Hammers save
Of course, West Ham had a few players leaving the London Stadium, too – although they did at least manage to hang on to Jarrod Bowen in our spin through to the end of the first season. Some comfort there.
Luís Guilherme – loan to Luton Town: The Brazilian winger has had such a tough time impressing in England that he wound up making a January loan move to Luton, all the way down in League One. How the expensive have fallen. He didn’t even do very well there, scoring just two goals as the Hatters made their way back to the Championship. Hammers fans will have to hope that he pans out better in real life.
Ryan Battrum - £89k to Lincoln City: Guilherme was comfortably the most high-profile player to leave in our save, but at least West Ham took a tiny chunk out of Buendía’s cost by selling 21-year-old Battrum, who made one league appearance for the Hammers in our game, to Lincoln City. Not exactly a needle-mover, but hey.
Regan Clayton - £41.5k to AFC Wimbledon: Another minor fiscal sacrifice, the young left wing-back really doesn’t have Premier League level attributes in the game and was sold for a very small sum down the leagues to AFC Wimbledon.
Andy Irving – loan to WSG Tirol: Irving went on loan to Austria, played precisely zero matches for his new side in the Bundesliga, and was released on a free transfer at the end of the season. Poor chap.
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