West Ham Enter the Post-Rice Era

It’s official — the Declan Rice era is over in East London and instead shifts north to the red portion of the capital. Rice is a unicorn, two-way player who will succeed at the heart of Arsenal’s midfield. He is just that talented. It is therefore more productive to project how the future will unfold for the 24-year-old’s former club, West Ham United.  The Hammers approach the new season with a handful of question marks floating over them. 

Fresh from winning the Europa Conference League in Prague, David Moyes — himself a question mark — will now be forced to re-augment his roster in relatively short order. At the time of writing, there are 28 days until the Premier League returns and West Ham fans are still awaiting their first arrival of the summer. While Rice’s departure presents its own questions, his exit is not the only order of business at the London Stadium. 

Uncertainty casts a dark shadow over Gianluca Scamacca, whose debut Premier League season was derailed by injury and wonky form. The Italian was also a poor stylistic fit under Moyes, a point laboured by Michail Antonio just days before the Conference League final. Tomas Soucek also endured a bumpy campaign last time around. The Czech midfielder burst onto the scene as a Premier League newcomer, crashing the offensive penalty area to save West Ham from the drop in 2020-21. Since then, his goals have dried up and deficiencies in possession laid bare. 

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