West Ham Face Up to 50% Wage Cuts at The London Stadium
West Ham’s relegation has put the london stadium squad on notice, with contractual clauses set to cut most players’ wages by up to 50%. That has pushed departures to the front of the club’s summer plans, and it leaves the captain, Jarrod Bowen, among the names now being weighed against the club’s financial reset.
Bowen’s Contract Stands Out
Bowen is the crown jewel in the squad, and his status was built into the seven-year contract he signed four months later. He is also one of only three players who started the Fiorentina triumph still at the club, alongside Tomas Soucek and Alphonse Areola.
That is the clearest sign of how quickly the group has changed. West Ham now face a squad built around expensive contracts and a relegation clause that can strip away as much as half a player’s pay, turning retention into a harder sell for the highest earners.
West Ham’s Saleable Assets
Mateus Fernandes has already been linked with Paris St-Germain and Manchester United, and West Ham hope to make a significant profit on the £40m they paid for him last August. El Hadji Malick Diouf, who cost £19m from Slavia Prague in July, could also be sold at a profit.
Max Kilman is another major name in the picture. West Ham paid £40m to sign him from Wolves in 2024 on a seven-year contract, but he has not played a single minute since the end of January.
Fullkrug And Ward-Prowse
Niclas Fullkrug signed a four-year deal in 2024 when he was 31, then joined AC Milan on loan in January after scoring three goals in 29 appearances for West Ham. James Ward-Prowse still has another year left on the contract he signed in August 2023, but he started seven games and was a substitute in another five after joining Burnley on loan in January.
Axel Diasi, Adama Traore and Callum Wilson are all out of contract in the summer, which narrows the list of straightforward exits but does not solve the wider problem. West Ham received £105m for Declan Rice and more, and the squad now has to be stripped back with relegation clauses already shaping who stays, who goes and who takes the hit in pay.
