Former West Ham player and coach Stuart Pearce believes this is the “strongest group of players” the club have ever had.

Stuart Pearce made 48 appearances for the Hammers between 1999 and 2001, before going on to join David Moyes’ coaching team during his first spell in 2017/18. The Englishman returned for two years between 2020 and 2022 in the Scotsman’s second spell in charge of the club. 

In an interview with talkSPORT, Pearce spoke about the current Hammers team and the amount of talent it has.

He said: “The business they did in the summer was very good. Some of the signings are supplementing what they already have in [Mohammed] Kudus, [Lucas] Paqueta, [Jarrod] Bowen, etc. It’s a really good squad of players.

“You could say this is the strongest group of players, on paper, the club have ever had. I’m sure West Ham fans will disagree with me.”

Not many West Ham fans would disagree, however. The club have some very well respected players in both English and European football. Not just the attacking talent as Pearce mentioned, players like Max Kilman, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Edson Alvarez would get into most teams outside of the Premier League’s big six.

He continued: “But when you look at how much you can sell some of these players for – you couldn’t have done that in the past.”

The Hammers club record sale before Declan Rice was Dimitri Payet, who left for Marseille for just £25m. The Hammers have at least six players in the current squad that they could sell for more than £25m.

Three players in Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paquetá and Jarrod Bowen have all been linked to £80m+ moves away, highlighting the shire amount of talent Julen Lopetegui has at his disposal.

Despite Pearce’s opinions on the talent Lopetegui has to use at West Ham, the former Manchester City manager believes the Spaniard should be given time. He said: “People expect too much at times but I’m buoyed by where they are at the moment.