Emerson Palmieri issues defiant message amid West Ham exit whispers
West Ham defender Emerson Palmieri has penned a defiant message amid rumours linking him with a move away from the London Stadium this summer.
Emerson moved across the capital to join West Ham from Chelsea back in 2022, and he has impressed in his time in East London with 113 appearances from left-back in the last three seasons.
The Brazil-born Italy international became the first ever player to win each of the four modern UEFA club competitions when the Irons won the Conference League in 2023, but two years on and it does look as if his time at the club could soon be coming to an end.
West Ham have already moved to let veteran left-back Aaron Cresswell depart at the end of his contract, and reports recently emerged that the Irons will look to sell Emerson if they were able to sign El Hadji Malick Diouf from Slavia Prague.
Diouf was confirmed as a new West Ham player on Tuesday (15 July), and so the 30-year-old now looks likely to leave as Ollie Scarles takes his place following his impressive breakthrough campaign last season.
Emerson sends defiant message on social media
Emerson will certainly not want to be pushed out of the door by Graham Potter this summer, as he is just coming off the back of another decent personal campaign that saw him register two goals and one assist in 32 appearances.
The Italy international shared an update to his Instagram story on Thursday (17 July), with a picture from his point of view on an exercise bike, likely at the Hammers’ training ground, alongside a caption saying: “Resilience.”
West Ham should keep Emerson alongside Diouf
Football Insider verdict
New Hammers signing Diouf will be a relatively unknown player in English football right now, but that could all change in the coming season as he aims to prove his worth in the Premier League.
The 20-year-old is a left-back by trade but can also be deployed higher up in a wing-back position, and has gained experience in both the Champions League and Europa League in his time with Slavia.
While he looks to be a quality, promising player, he still does not have the same level of nous as Emerson, who has won each of those competitions and the European Championships, while also having eight years of Premier League experience under his belt.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 113 | 5 | 6 |
At 30-years-old he is reaching the latter stages of his career, but it would seem unwise for Potter, who needs a settled, balanced squad to achieve success next season, to get rid of both his older left-backs in one fell swoop this summer and leave himself with only Diouf and Scarles.
There could well be scope for the Hammers to buy another player in that position if they sanction Emerson’s sale, but that would be relatively pointless as they have already spent £19million [BBC] on Diouf, and desperately need to strengthen in other areas instead.