West Ham defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka
West Ham defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka
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The 28-year-old has been linked with a move away from London Stadium throughout the summer following the Hammers' relegation to the Championship.
He has been absent from the club's pre-season preparations and wasn't in the matchday squad for the 3-1 Carabao Cup first-round win over Portsmouth last weekend.
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According to ExWHUemployee, Wan-Bissaka is currently "likely" to join either David Moyes' Everton or Aston Villa, although there is also interest from clubs overseas.
It would bring a surprisingly swift end to his time at West Ham.
After all, the defender was crowned Hammer of the Year just over a year ago.
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Wan-Bissaka was arguably one of the few genuine success stories from West Ham's disastrous 2024/2025 campaign.
He made 36 Premier League appearances, scored twice, registered five assists and finished ahead of Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek in the Hammer of the Year voting.
But last season, things changed.
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Kyle Walker-Peters arrived on a free transfer from Southampton and Nuno Espirito Santo regularly rotated between the two at right-back as West Ham eventually suffered relegation.
He did have his moments in 2025/2026, most notably in West Ham's goalless draw against Bournemouth at London Stadium, when Jamie Redknapp said afterwards: "I thought Wan-Bissaka at right back was excellent as well."
He Crystal Palace academy product remains a very good defender and, at his best, one of the strongest one-on-one full-backs around - that's according to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
But West Ham are no longer in a position where keeping every good Premier League player makes sense.
There has to be a balance between retaining enough quality to win promotion and moving players on when the squad can cope without them.
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The biggest reason West Ham can afford to sanction his departure is that they have already covered themselves at right-back.
Walker-Peters is proven at Championship level, having previously helped Southampton win promotion through the play-offs, and is more than capable of being Nuno's first-choice option this season.
West Ham have also now signed Joel Veltman on a free transfer after his Brighton contract expired.
The 34-year-old has agreed a one-year deal with the option of another and gives Nuno another experienced option at right-back as well as centrally.
Selling Wan-Bissaka without adequate cover would be a needless risk, but doing so when Walker-Peters and Veltman are already in the building makes it much easier to justify.
Especially if West Ham can recover a decent proportion of the £15m they paid Manchester United for him in 2024, or even make a profit.
The DR Congo international signed a seven-year contract when he arrived from Man United, which means West Ham are under no contractual pressure to accept a cut-price offer.
Previous reports have suggested Everton value a deal considerably lower than some of the figures West Ham have been seeking this summer.
That's where the club have to be sensible, because there's a difference between accepting that a player can leave and being desperate to sell him.
Wan-Bissaka is still only 28, has vast Premier League experience and was voted West Ham's best player in 2025.
If Everton or Aston Villa want to take him straight back to the Premier League, they should have to pay accordingly.
But if a sensible offer does arrive, this feels like one departure West Ham are now equipped to deal with.
Losing a former Hammer of the Year would normally feel like another damaging blow, but not where Wan-Bissaka is concerned.