Confirmed: West Ham senior duo leave by mutual consent
By Matt Farr
West Ham senior duo Raphael Spiegel and Stephen Hendrie have had their contracts at the club terminated by mutual consent, it has been confirmed.
The east London club announced on their official website on Wednesday afternoon that the duo were set to be released by the club this summer, despite being named on the club’s official retained list earlier this month.
The Premier League had published the list of players that were set to kept on by West Ham following the 2016-17 season on their official website on June 9, and both players were listed.
However, it has since been confirmed by the Hammers that they have reached a mutual decision with the two players to terminate their contracts, and they will both now seek a fresh challenge.
Neither Hendrie nor Spiegel had succeeded in establishing themselves in West Ham’s first-team squad.
Spiegel, a goalkeeper, moved to the club in July 2012, but failed to make a single appearance for the senior side as he struggled to compete alongside Darren Randolph and Adrian.
He did earn regular appearances for West Ham’s Under-23 side, keeping 14 clean sheets from 56 matches, but his lack of progress could well have proved a determining factor in the decision for him to quit.
Hendrie, meanwhile, returned to the club this summer following a season-long loan spell at Blackburn Rovers, where he managed just eight first-team appearances.
Like Spiegel, the full-back leaves West Ham having failed to make a single appearance for the senior side.
Football Insider verdict
Even after making the decision to allow several players to leave the squad at the end of their contracts, there was still a lot of deadweight left in the first-team squad. But it appears as though Slaven Bilic is keen to still trim the squad, with Hendrie and Spiegel the latest two players to be sacrificed by West Ham. The departures make sense, because neither player came close to making any real impact on the squad, and with further signings planned in each position this summer, their chances of earning regular football were not going to get any higher.
In other West Ham transfer news, this chief executive has revealed where one of West Ham’s reported transfer targets will be playing next season.
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