The conventional wisdom about James Ward-Prowse and Maxwel Cornet this summer has been simple and almost universally agreed upon: they are finished at West Ham, contracts to be cleared, names to be removed from the wage bill, chapters to be closed. The consensus rarely stops to ask whether the consensus is right.
Nuno Espírito Santo seems to be thinking differently and looks to be open to coming out of pre-season with a different perspective on two players who looked to be done in East London.
Unlike Niclas Füllkrug and Jean-Clair Todibo, who didn't feature against Southend, Nuno included Ward-Prowse in the squad for the second pre-season game running. Earlier this week, Hammer’s Chat podcaster and Claret & Hugh contributor, Kris Gonzo, was told by a club source that holding on to Ward-Prowse is possible. "Sure, he could be a useful player in the Championship. Also, there has not been a single offer for him, so he could definitely stay."
Not a single offer. For a player the club had been actively trying to move on. The market has dried up for Ward-Prowse, and what it has said is that nobody is queuing up to take him off West Ham's hands at any meaningful fee. Which means the conversation shifts entirely: if he’s not sold, does he stay? And if he stays, will he be allowed to contribute?
Ward-Prowse ranks in the top 2.4 per cent of midfielders for big chances created per 90 minutes, as well as the top 7% for chances created.. While his minutes last season were limited, the 31-year-old has returned to West Ham, willing, ready and able to take on any role.
The history with Nuno is real and cannot be ignored. Ward-Prowse was frozen out when Nuno took charge, just as he had been when the Portuguese coach was managing Nottingham Forest in the previous campaign. That the manager is now giving him pre-season minutes is either a genuine reassessment or a shop window, and the absence of interested buyers makes the shop window theory less convincing by the day. There have been multiple reports over the last two seasons that the reason for Nuno and Ward-Prowse falling out was a ribbing from the player when he made a comment about the manager’s lack of hair.
Ward-Prowse is known to most as a consummate professional, so the theory that he would disrespect his manager seems far-fetched. However, he’s also been known to keep things like that in the dressing room and in practice, and he’s even been known to do impressions of teammates and staff. So is it possible that he may have done so with Nuno? If so, it needs to be buried, and a relationship between the two should resume. Nuno is a bright enough manager to know what Ward-Prowse’s strengths are. He can certainly help West Ham return to the Premier League. In a Championship squad that will feature players in their early twenties navigating their first experiences of second-tier football, a calm, experienced, technically excellent presence in the dressing room is essential to build the infrastructure.
Maxwel Cornet
Somehow, Maxwell Cornet is still a West Ham player. Since moving to East London in 2022, Cornet has made only 37 appearances in all competitions for the Hammers. and scored only once in a competitive match, finding the net with a half-volley in a 2-2 draw against Sheffield United in 2024. The club £17.5 million to Burnley for his services, and multiple injuries and loan spells, not to mention changes in managers, have kept him out of the squad.
But then he played and he scored in a pre-season friendly.
But strip away the obvious negatives and look at the player underneath. Cornet is 29 years old not ancient, not finished. He can play on the left wing and back up Jarrod Bowen on the right side or as a striker, all positions West Ham desperately need depth for. He scored nine Premier League goals for Burnley in his only full season in the top-flight.
Having sold Crysencio Summerville this week, the depth on the left wing is genuinely thin. Bowen is the first name on the teamsheet, but he cannot play 46 Championship games without rotation and cover. Kieber LaMadrid provides one option, but the squad needs width. Cornet is a player under contract until June 2027 who costs West Ham nothing to retain beyond a wage bill that has already been reduced by relegation clauses, and who has shown in pre-season that there is still something there. The Championship, where space is more abundant, where opposition defensive lines are deeper and transitions faster, might actually suit the pace and directness of a squad that lacks speed.
Both players having featured in pre-season is not accidental. Nuno does not include players in his squads out of sentiment or administrative inertia. He is a precise, organised manager who knows what he wants from his squad. That Ward-Prowse has featured in back-to-back friendlies and Cornet scored in one suggests that Nuno is, at minimum, genuinely evaluating them rather than simply parking them until a sale materialises.
This is a new West Ham. One built around the committee of Nils Koppen, Mark Noble, Karim Virani and Nuno, and they have made a point of being methodical rather than reactive. Rushing to cut two contracted players whose market value has collapsed, while simultaneously trying to recruit replacements in a competitive window, is not methodical. Keeping one or both would be calculated and a smart depth play. It's going to be a challenge to find veteran players who can fill holes in the second tier.
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