West Ham United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka insists he’ll be putting sentiment firmly to one side when his former club Crystal Palace arrive at London Stadium for Saturday afternoon’s enticing Premier League clash.
The Hammers host the Eagles looking to record back-to-back wins in the top-flight under new boss Graham Potter, following Tuesday night’s entertaining 3-2 triumph over Fulham.
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Born in Croydon, and snapped up by Palace at the age of eleven, the now 27-year-old Wan-Bissaka came through the ranks in south London before earning his first-team debut in February 2018, and went on to make 46 appearances before joining Manchester United little over a year later.
Now among the first names on the West Ham teamsheet, having swapped Old Trafford for a return to the capital last summer, he is fully focused on backing up his side’s midweek success, and helping deliver another three-point haul in front of the Claret and Blue faithful.
“It’s always a bit strange for me, playing against Crystal Palace,” said Wan-Bissaka, who made his Irons debut in the teams’ reverse meeting in August. “Palace will always mean a great deal to me, because that’s where I first made my name in football, and I’ll always be thankful to the people there for having faith in me.
“But ultimately, you’ve got to put the game first. It was great to get a good reception from both sets of fans when we played away at the start of the season, and thankfully we managed to get the win that day, which is what we’ll be going for again.
“I’m a West Ham player now, and I’ve really enjoyed it here so far. On the pitch we’ve had ups and downs this season, but we’re all working hard and taking new ideas on, and I’m confident we’re on a good path.”
Since that first Hammers appearance in the second Premier League gameweek of this term, Wan-Bissaka has been ever present in the starting XI, and notched goals in successive games against Newcastle and Arsenal in November.
With a full week of training under Head Coach Potter behind the squad, our No29 is now looking to utilise the good work put in behind the scenes, as well as the positives from the first half of 2024/25, to help achieve a strong end to the campaign.
He added: “There have been lots of things to work on. We know that as a defensive unit we need to be tighter than we have been, but that’s something for the whole team to contribute to, like everything.
“We need to concede less, but also score more goals. We’ve been working on that, and hopefully that’s something that will keep improving in the coming days and weeks.
“I think communication is a big thing, and as we’ve all got to know each other better, and continue to do so now with the new boss, that will help us keep getting better.
“Every game is tough in the Premier League, and we’ve had a mixture of results against teams in different positions in the table, so the most important thing we can do is to focus on ourselves.
“We’re aware of our strengths, and we have to be confident of getting a result against anyone we come up against. Hopefully we can go on a strong run now.”
