West Ham United may have an even better chance of an immediate return to the Premier League than first imagined.
The Hammers fought bravely until final day but couldn’t avoid their fate. A poor start to the season proved decisive and not even a turn of tide under Nuno Espirito Santo in January was able to save them from relegation.
Now though, they head into the Championship for the first time in 14 years with great chances to win promotion. Lately, there has been quite a bit of positive news coming out of the London Stadium. And it might boost the Hammers’ odds in the second tier.
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Why could West Ham be a modern day version of the 2017-18 Wolves?
The Jarrod Bowen factor
Wolverhampton Wanderers had one of the most impressive Championship seasons in recent memory in 2017-18. A few marquee signings took them from the bottom half of the table to indisputable champions.
Of course, their 99 points that campaign has been bettered by a few different sides since then. Burnley won 101 in 2022-23 and 100 in 2024-25 — same year that Leeds United also reached 100.
But in terms of top-end talent and players that belonged in way higher levels, that squad — featuring the likes of Diogo Jota and Ruben Neves — was incredible.
That may very well be the case for West Ham heading into the upcoming season. Mostly beause of Jarrod Bowen.
The 29-year-old racked up an impressive 20 goal contributions despite a really poor collective season at Londom Stadium. He went from England‘s World Cup squad conversations to the England’s second tier in just a few months.
West Ham have already confirmed that Bowen is staying, in an effect to seal an immediate return to the Premier League.
When Bowen last played in the Championship — for Hull City in 2019-20 — it already felt below him. His performances for the Tigers earned him his big move to the Premier League, in fact. West Ham signed him for £22million in January 2020 and he has been there since.
When Bowen left, Hull were relegated from the Championship. The squad around him left a lot to be desired and couldn’t handle his mid-season exit.
Hull sat 13th when Bowen left, with 11 wins, six draws and 12 defeats. They would go on to win just one more game until the end of the league season, drawing three times and losing 13.
Nuno connection
Current West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo has been there and done that at Championship level.
He was at the helm when Wolves won the league in 2018 and went back to the Premier League following a six-year absence. Not only that, but also led them to back-to-back seventh-placed finishes immediately after returning to the top flight.
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This remains the best work of his career so far, having also enjoyed recent success at Nottingham Forest. A second-tier campaign with a strong squad may just be what the former goalkeeper needs in order to relive his best, most glorious days.
And West Ham have improved since he took over, despite the relegation. The Hammers started last season with five losses in their first six games, still under Graham Potter. Heavy defeats to Sunderland, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur made the board part ways with him.
Espirito Santo then struggled at first, but steadied the ship to a certain extent. He gave them hopes of avoiding relegation – which was only confirmed on final day. One could argue that hope itself is already a win, given how they started the season.
| West Ham 2025-26 stats | Graham Potter | Nuno Espirito Santo |
|---|---|---|
| Games played | 6 | 37 |
| Win percentage | 17% | 30% |
| Points won (%) | 17% | 40% |
| Goals scored per game | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| Goals conceded per game | 2.7 | 1.5 |
| Big chances per game | 1.5 | 2.1 |
| Big chances faced per game | 3.3 | 2.4 |
| xG for per game | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| xG against per game | 1.7 | 1.6 |
Transfer activity
West Ham are in a delicate financial situation, but look to have secured nearly £150m by selling just two players.
Tottenham signed Mateus Fernandes for £85m at the start of the month. Now, Crysencio Summerville looks set to join Al-Hilal for a £60m package.
It remains to be seen what percentage of this sum goes into clearing previous debts. But even if they don’t invest too heavily in the squad, there are still players that could leave and generate income that would go into other signings.
If that’s not the case, they currently have a strong squad for Championship level that should get the job done one way or another.