West Ham: Graham Potter vows to repeat Brighton trick as summer transfer plans are revealed | OneFootball

Potter is keen to bring down the average age of the West Ham squad this summer

Graham Potter says he left Brighton in 2022 as “the best pound-for-pound squad in the Premier League” — and has pledged to repeat the trick at West Ham.

Brighton were fourth in the table, six games into the 2022-23 season, when Potter left to manage Chelsea in September 2022.

Now in charge of West Ham, who are 17th in the table, Potter insists the Hammers are determined to take learnings from his time on the South Coast.

“At Brighton, we left the club fourth on the table, with, in my opinion, the best pound-for-pound squad in the Premier League. If we can achieve the same at West Ham, we can be whatever you want to say. So you've got a winning team with value on the pitch.

“If you can create that, then I'm happy. Three years' time, if we can do that together then that's fantastic. An equivalent of Caicedo, an equivalent of Mac Allister, an equivalent of [Leandro] Trossard, an equivalent of [Robert] Sanchez, an equivalent of [Lewis] Dunk, an equivalent of [Pascal] Gross, at West Ham — that's £200m of sales — [Yves] Bissouma, Ben White, Marc Cucurella, Pervis Estupinan, those players.

“If you can win and sell players then you should be happy with that performance. No?”

Moises Caicedo rose to prominence at Brighton under Graham Potter

AFP via Getty Images

West Ham have the likes of Lukasz Fabianski (40) and Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell (both 35) out of contract this summer, unless they sign new deals, and the Hammers are preparing for a summer of transition. They are aiming to lower the average age of their squad, which, at 28, is the oldest in the Premier League.

“Everyone can see that we're not happy with where we are,” Potter said. “And it's not like it's a three-month thing, it's an 18-month thing. So clearly we have to do something to change.

“There’s a noise and there’s a game around the transfer windows all the time. Speculation will be what it is — there’s nothing we can do about it. This club has got resources. We mustn’t waste resources.

“It's not necessarily an age thing, although I think it makes sense for us to lower it, because then you're talking more about value and resale and a different profile of player.

“But I don't think our fans care what age the players are, if we're a lot higher up in the league and we're winning more games and we're playing better football.

“I'm not ageist. But I also understand the bigger global picture of football and I've come in from the last two clubs [where they] would look to younger players because there are upsides to younger players. There are upsides to older players as well, especially with the way that players look at themselves these days, sports science. Back in my day when you're 35, that was it, you're finished.

“Nowadays with the way players look after themselves, but aspects of the question I understand.”