West Ham: 5 former players who are now free agents | OneFootball

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West Ham are a club that have had a lot of ups and downs over the past decade or so with the club winning the Europa Conference League, but also suffering relegation in that time period. Many players have come and gone within that time, with some being more memorable to Hammers' fans than others.

Several players that once donned the famous Claret and Blue shirt find themselves without a club in 2023, although none have given up hopes of making a return to the game in the future. With that being said, we take a look at five former West Ham players that are now free agents.

Simone Zaza

A man famous for missing an important penalty at the 2016 EUROs due to a bizarre run up, the Italian forward was actually rewarded with a move to the Premier League. A loan move to the Olympic Stadium - the new home of West Ham for the 2016/17 season - was sealed, although all didn't quite go to plan.

The striker would only go on to make eight league appearances for the Hammers in a six-month stint that ended in injury. Scoring no goals in that time, he then embarked on a new loan journey with Valencia in Spain during the January 2017 transfer window. That loan was more fruitful as Zaza earned a permanent move to the La Liga outfit, where he would go on to spend a further season.

In 2018, he would return to Italy - this time with Torino - in yet another loan deal initially, before putting pen to paper on permanent terms. The 32-year-old has been without a club for a year now after leaving the Serie A side in 2022 having scored 20 goals in 102 appearances.

Junior Stanislas

A man to have experienced the Championship - albeit briefly - with West Ham is the English winger. He was swiftly sold on to fellow Championship side, Burnley, shortly after the 2011/12 season kicked off, although he did make a substitute appearance for the club before leaving.

The majority of his appearances for the East London club came two seasons prior, in 2009/10 where he made 26 Premier League appearances. This came after a solid loan spell with Southend United the season before, with West Ham manager at the time - Gianfranco Zola - taking a shine to the youngster.

Ever since leaving Upton Park at the time, Stanislas spent the majority of his years in the second tier of English football with Burnley from 2011 to 2014, and Bournemouth between the years 2014 and 2023. His time at the Vitality Stadium did see the wide midfielder earn another opportunity at Premier League football under Eddie Howe. His highest goalscoring campaign in the top flight came in 2016, when he found the net seven times from 21 games. After nine years with the club, it was announced that Stanislas would leave Bournemouth in June 2023, and he remains without a club.

Robert Snodgrass

Snodgrass spent a staggering 14 years in England following making the move South of the border in 2008 to join Leeds United in League One. The former Scotland international played for a number of English sides in both the Premier League and Championship until 2022, before returning to his home country to play for Hearts in the Scottish Premiership in 2022/23. This was his last club as things stand, as his search for pastures new goes on.

Having been an important part of Hull City's team in both the Premier League and Championship, Snodgrass was snapped up by West Ham in January 2017, and played a big role in the remainder of the season. He did find himself further down the pecking order for the 2017/18 season which saw him move to Aston Villa on loan in search of game time.

Upon his return, the winger forced his way back into the plans as he reached 33 appearances in the following league season. He was never a prolific goalscorer, but always a hard-worker with sound technical ability which saw him remain with the Irons until 2021. A year with West Brom preceded his aforementioned move back to Scotland in 2022, with a brief spell at Luton in between.

Andre Ayew

Ayew signed for the Hammers in 2016 after impressing in his first season in English football with Swansea in 2015/16 which saw him scored 12 times for the Welsh club in 34 games. This ended up being his best season in the Premier League in front of goal, as he only managed the same number goals in total for West Ham across 50 games in all competitions.

The Ghana international was already well-known to a lot of Premier League fans after starring for his national side at two World Cup's prior to moving to Swansea. He was a very versatile option who was capable of playing as a striker, winger and even attacking midfielder to a high level.

A return to Swansea was sealed in January 2018, but Ayew was unable to stop the club from being relegated to the Championship at the end of that campaign. He did stay with the club for the duration of his three-year contract - playing the majority of that deal in the Championship - before moving to Al Saad in Qatar. Nottingham Forest signed him up on a short-term deal after he left the Qatari side in early 2023, but Ayew struggled to make an impact and is now a free agent.

Jesse Lingard

It was a short-lived relationship between Lingard and West Ham as the English midfielder spent an impressive six months with the club in 2021. Being a big hit with the fans, he scored nine Premier League goals from 16 games, as the loanee played with a freedom that hadn't been seen often during his time with Manchester United. Hammers fans were disappointed to see the club were unable to secure a permanent deal in the summer transfer window.

Lingard returned to Old Trafford in the summer - where he had come through the youth ranks - for a final season before his contract expired. His final campaign was a disappointing one as the England international was unable to play on a regular basis even after his impressive spell with West Ham.

Like Ayew, his last club was Nottingham Forest in the 2022/23 season after making the shock move to the City Ground. This came after terms could not be agreed on his return to West Ham, but the move didn't go to plan as Lingard fell out of favour with Steve Cooper after the first couple of games and was released at the end of the season following no goal contributions in his 17 league games.