Scott Parker, a three-time West Ham United Player of the Year, is just one familiar face who will go up against the Premier League relegation-battlers during Saturday’s 3pm kick-off away to Burnley.
Hammers News can confirm that Parker was a name under consideration to replace Graham Potter in the autumn, too.
Since Potter was given his marching orders towards the end of September, Parker and Nuno Espirito Santo have tasted victory in the Premier League only six times between them. Even three points could come too late in the day for a seemingly-doomed Burnley outfit this weekend.
West Ham United still have a shot at survival, though.
West Ham are in EXACTLY the same position as in their ‘Great Escape’ season! ⚡
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Carlos Tevez of West Ham celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the Barclays Premiership match between West Ham United and Middlesbrough at Upton Park on March 31, 2007 in London, England. West Ham United's English striker #20 Jarrod Bowen celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and West Ham United at Stamford Bridge in London on January 31, 2026.
Should they win in Lancashire, and if there is a winner in Friday night’s so-called ‘six pointer’ between Leeds and Nottingham Forest, the Hammers will be only one victory adrift of 17th place.
Burnley’s latest ill-fated top-flight campaign means Parker is unlikely to feature too highly on any managerial shortlists in the near future. West Ham were linked with Maxime Esteve last summer, meanwhile, alongside the likes of Bayern Munich and AC Milan. Esteve has not covered himself in glory either during a season full of defensive errors.
Marcus Edwards and Quillindschy Hartman have reportedly featured on Hammers shopping lists in the past as well. Their names may trigger a few bouts of ‘oh yeah, I remember him’ from the visiting fans. James Ward-Prowse is a Burnley player himself, these days, albeit the on-loan midfielder is ineligible to face his parent club.
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And the striker expected to lead the line for Parker against West Ham was allegedly the subject of a £30 million bid from the London Stadium back in 2022. A Sky Sports report in July of that year claimed that West Ham had lodged a £30 million offer for Armando Broja, as well as making a third bid worth £23.5 million for Lille midfielder Amadou Onana.
Three-and-a-half years later, one of those pursuits has aged better than the other.
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Armando Broja could face former suitors West Ham United for Burnley at Turf Moor
Armando Broja during Sunderland v Burnley - Premier League
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Onana has been an occasional powerhouse at the heart of Unai Emery’s title dark horses Aston Villa. Considering that West Ham’s first few weeks of the campaign were dogged by complaints over a lack of physicality and aggression in the engine room, a 6ft 5ins giant of Onana’s talents would have come in extremely handy.
Broja, though? Less so.
When the Albania international was being chased – Fabrizio Romano said at the time that West Ham were ‘really close’ to agreeing terms with Broja in 2022 – he was indeed hot property.
A 20-year-old Broja had just come off a nine-goal loan spell at Southampton. Pace, power and potential by the bucketload; Broja appeared to be a centre-forward with a one-way ticket to the top of the European game in his back pocket.
The Slough-born 24-year-old expected to test out former Chelsea teammate Axel Disasi this weekend, though, is a very different beast. A wounded animal, if you will.
He has scored only one goal in 20 games and 941 minutes.
Scott Parker is backing Broja to bounce back as Hammers come to town
Broja’s troubles can be traced back to a cruciate ligament injury which kept him on the sidelines for nearly 300 days in 2022/23. An ACL tear he suffered just five months after Chelsea rejected that West Ham offer.
Broja has played 76 games since the Hammers were on his heels. Only four goals have been scored, with loan stints at Fulham and Everton failing to yield even a single strike.
West Ham’s so-called ‘striker curse’ has dominated plenty of column inches over the years. But even by their standards, paying £30 million for a striker, seeing him rupture his ACL while netting only four goals in 76 games would have been particularly disastrous.
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Axel Disasi of Aston Villa looks on as he prepares to take a throw-in during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Aston Villa FC at Etihad Stadium on April 22, 2025 in Manchester, England.
“Armando came in and it was really, really difficult for him. Really, really difficult, and I understood that,” Parker said in December, shortly after Broja had ended his two-year drought with a finish against Bournemouth.
Like a certain France international – Disasi could make his West Ham debut at Turf Moor – Broja’s confidence and fitness ebbed away after being shunted into the Stamford Bridge ‘bomb squad’.
“But I’ve seen every bit of the player that I know and we know that Armando is,” Parker added.
“I was really, really pleased for him [to score a long-awaited goal] You could see Armando’s quality, he can bring us something different on the top line.
“Hopefully this is just that little thing that springboards it now and hopefully he can have a big impact moving forward.”
With their Premier League status hanging by a thread, you can forgive West Ham if they are not feeling quite so hopeful about Broja rediscovering the form which once attracted £30 million bids.
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