West Ham United manager Graham Potter has now approved the sale of three first-team players after the very disappointing opening day defeat against Sunderland, according to a report.
Potter left frustrated by opening day defeat at Sunderland
West Ham suffered a 3-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light in their opening Premier League game of the season, and Potter subsequently admitted his side's performance wasn't up to par.
The Hammers boss said: "The second half was not good from us in terms of the basics. First half was quite good, we controlled the crowd and were unfortunate not to score. The first goal was always going to be important. Basics of football we have to really improve.
"It is the first day, we know these things can happen as much as we don't like it to happen. We have a big game on Friday, we have to react and do a lot better."
West Ham United manager Graham Potter
Even though we are only one game into the new campaign, pressure is arguably already mounting on Potter, given that the 50-year-old was unable to oversee a major improvement last season either, having averaged just 1.0 points per match during his time at the London Stadium.
As such, the Englishman is now looking to reshuffle his squad before the transfer deadline, and there may be some drastic action, with the West Ham manager now willing to sanction the departure of three first-team players.
That is according to a report from the Sunday Mirror (via West Ham Zone), which states Potter has approved the sales of Edson Alvarez, Guido Rodriguez and Andy Irving, who will all now be allowed to leave for the right fee.
The midfield trio, who rake in a combined £180k-a-week, clearly haven't done enough to impress the Solihull-born manager, and a number of new central midfielders have been identified as potential replacements.
Potter needs to make major changes before transfer deadline
It is a good sign that Potter is willing to take radical action to improve his squad, given that there have been very few promising signs ever since the former Chelsea manager's arrival at the London Stadium, amassing just 43 points last season.
Rodriguez failed to have any impact on the match against Sunderland, with the defensive midfielder not making a single defensive action, while he was also dribbled past on one occasion.
Irving, on the other hand, came on as a late substitute, having failed to establish himself as a regular starter ever since his arrival, while Alvarez didn't even make it off the bench, amid well-documented interest from Ajax and Monaco.
As such, West Ham fans are unlikely to be too disappointed to see any of the trio leave the club this summer, and some exciting potential replacements have been identified, with Chelsea's Santos scoring ten league goals on loan at Strasbourg last term.