West Ham star Aaron Wan-Bissaka in action, Nuno in inset.
Credit: Imago
Daniel Davis
Mon 23 March 2026 17:10, UK
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has endured his first nightmare week at West Ham United.
The full-back has started regularly under Nuno Espirito Santo without delivering a truly eye-catching performance, with stability the name of the game at the London Stadium.
He joined from Manchester United in a bargain £15million deal back in August 2024 and has showcased some of the qualities that garnered him a glowing reputation at Old Trafford.
Again named in Nuno’s starting XI for the trip to Aston Villa on Sunday, Wan-Bissaka was exposed time and again down the right-hand side, resulting in an afternoon to forget.
West Ham will resume their Premier League survival fight after the international break, but the pause will give the head coach time to ponder how to get the defender back on track.
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Aaron Wan-Bissaka exposed vs Aston Villa
Wan-Bissaka was restored to his traditional right-back role at Villa Park but found himself completely outnumbered, with the hosts using the channels to devastating effect.
Jadon Sancho and Morgan Rogers often swapped positions to try their luck up against the Irons man, while Lucas Digne also flooded forward as an added headache.
Statistic Wan-Bissaka 24-25 Wan-Bissaka 25-26
Matches played 38 24
Goals 2 0
Assists 5 2
Tackles 73 29
Interceptions 71 40
Crossing accuracy 21.5% 37%
Despite making an important block with the score at 0-0, Wan-Bissaka somewhat blotted his copybook with his reaction after Jarrod Bowen lost possession for Villa’s second goal.
It was symptomatic of the defender’s wider struggles over the past week or so. In fact, he has barely been above average all campaign, resulting in a 6.59 Sofascore rating.
Against Villa, he did not make a single tackle. He also registered just one interception and two recoveries, while winning the sole ground duel he contested across the 90 minutes.
Making matters worse, Wan-Bissaka lost possession eight times.
Clearly, there is room for improvement, but his team-mates certainly hung him out to dry. Bowen didn’t do enough to track back, while Tomas Soucek didn’t cover the channel.
These were structural issues rather than individual failings, and the cracks are evident. He has also switched between a flat back four and wing-back, affecting his momentum.
When given added responsibility in attack, he leaves space behind, while his main weakness, an understanding of what is happening behind him, has not been addressed.
Wan-Bissaka once had defenders running scared, but not anymore.
Is Kyle Walker-Peters pushing to start?
The brutal reality is that, no, he isn’t. In fact, West Ham are expected to actively work to get Kyle Walker-Peters off their books as soon as the summer transfer window opens.
Fiorentina were tipped to swoop for the full-back in January but a move did not materialise. As a result, he has acted as a backup to both Wan-Bissaka and Malick El-Hadji Diouf.
He will be a popular figure in the dressing room, and provided he is content with his deputy role, it would make sense for the Irons to keep him around beyond the summer.
It’s not as if they would be able to generate a substantial enough transfer fee anyway.