Who is the most underappreciated West Ham player? | OneFootball

West Ham have been one of the worst teams in the Premier League this season, and if it weren't for the hopeless futility of this season's promoted trio of Ipswich Town, Leicester City, and Southampton, we'd be spending a lot more time fretting about the possibility of relegation for the Hammers.

Despite the fact that West Ham are stuck in the bottom half of the table, there have been a number of individual performances worth praising, and there are two West Ham starters, in particular, who appear to be overlooked by those outside the club's sphere.

The first is new center back Jean-Clair Todibo, who has been one of a few positive hits from the last summer transfer window. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Max Kilman have deservingly hoarded much of the praise as major upgrades to the new-look back line, but Todibo also looks like a solid building block for the club, even at a somewhat bloated price tag.

Todibo was one of the best center backs in Ligue 1, renowned for his ball-playing ability, and he's brought that quality to the London Stadium in 2024/25. The Frenchman is completing over 87 percent of his pass attempts, which is massive for a West Ham side that struggles to string passes together. He's also allowed just 0.2 dribbles per game, rating him among the better center backs in the Premier League.

Emerson is often overlooked

A more established West Ham player is also overlooked, and he is also a member of the back line. Emerson Palmieri shouldn't be sold this summer, as he has the technical quality to get forward from a wing back position, even if he is a little older.

Once written off by Chelsea, West Ham gave Emerson a lifeline to his career, and he's gone on to prove that he is a legitimate starting left back at the Premier League level. The 30-year-old has become a more defensive player these days, focusing on winning possession for the Hammers, but he still has three goal contributions to his name this season.

Of the two players, I'd call Todibo the more underappreciated one, because I think there are a lot of people who don't realize how good of a center back he is. A duo of Kilman and Todibo is legitimatley one of the best in the Premier League, and if West Ham can nab a solid third man, they could have one of the best trios in the league.

In a way, Todibo gets hurt two-fold. He suffers from how great Kilman has been in his first season at West Ham, because Kilamn monopolizes most of the praise. And then he gets hurt by Konstantinos Mavropanos, because Mavropanos has been downright atrocious, which has made Todibo's life just that much more difficult at the back.