West Ham Lille Graham Potter
(Credit: Imago)
Max Wilkins
Sun 10 August 2025 7:13, UK
West Ham brought the curtain down on their pre-season with a draw against Lille on Saturday.
The Hammers welcomed the French outfit to the London Stadium on 9 August in their final friendly of the summer.
Looking ahead to an opening day trip to Sunderland, Graham Potter’s side could only draw with the Ligue 1 outfit in a useful preparation clash in E20.
The claret and blue faithful saw Niclas Fullkrug score a late leveller, but it was the earlier strike in the day that caught the eye of the French media.
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French media blown away at West Ham vs Lille
There is certainly an air of uncertainty surrounding the Irons right now as fans are left unsure what to expect for the upcoming campaign.
It will certainly be interesting to see how the claret and blue outfit cope in the Premier League after a very up-and-down transfer window to this point.
With the opportunity to begin the season against a newly promoted side, there will be hope of starting the new year on a positive note.
It could prove to be a difficult task if Sunderland are to pull a rabbit out of the hat in front of goal, just as former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud did at the London Stadium.
To open the scoring for Lille, the 38-year-old chested the ball before sending an acrobatic volley into the top corner of Alphonse Areola’s goal.
In a moment which even the Hammers fans were left applauding, the French media covering the friendly were left astounded.
One outlet showcasing their astonishment was L’Equipe (9 August), who described the strike as “another magnificent goal in Olivier Giroud’s collection”.
This was further added to by Get French Football (9 August), as they were blown away by the “sublime moment” from the ex-Chelsea star.
French Football Weekly (9 August) echoed this sentiment, left stunned by a “simply sumptuous goal” by the Frenchman who has made a habit of this sort of goal throughout his career.
Giroud takes headlines in West Ham draw
It would be a player who has been strongly linked with the Irons in the past who has the biggest say in the final friendly of the summer.
Giroud has been of interest to West Ham many times over the past 10 years despite never making a move to East London in his career.
Giroud was initially a target in 2017, but he wasn’t interested in a move
Interest returned in January 2019 after Gonzalo Higuain joined Chelsea
A loan move was targeted for the Frenchman in January 2021
A free transfer was mooted in the summer of 2021, he instead joined AC Milan
Instead, the Hammers have been left with other striker options, going into the current campaign with Callum Wilson and Fullkrug as their main options.
It will certainly be interesting to see how this duo can cope with that pressure and whether they can replicate the pure class of the Frenchman in E20.
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