West Ham United have stepped up their pre-season preparations for the 2024/25 Premier League campaign by travelling to Austria for a week-long training camp that will conclude with a fixture against Hungarian side Ferencváros on Monday 15 July.
New Head Coach Julen Lopetegui has taken his players to an Alpine training complex near the German border, where the majority of the Hammers’ first team squad – with the exception of those involved in major international tournaments this summer – will be put through their paces, with early starts and double sessions expected to be the story of the intense week ahead.
New signings Luis Guilherme, Wes Foderingham and Maximilian Kilman will all have a chance to better get to know their new team-mates - including Mohammed Kudus, Nayef Aguerd and Dinos Mavropanos, who have reported back slightly later than their colleagues following international duty last month - while several young players from the Academy Under-21 development squad will travel and have an opportunity to impress the new Head Coach and his staff.
Austria has been the pre-season destination of choice for many Premier League clubs in recent years, with its tranquil surroundings and mountainous terrain providing the perfect environment for the players’ physical fitness work and conditioning at altitude.
With an average elevation of 910 metres above sea level across the country, compared to just 162m in the UK, the players’ muscles will be forced to work harder to take in oxygen, producing more red blood cells and allowing more oxygen to be distributed around the body when returning to compete at a lower altitude.
Lopetegui said: “The demands are going to be very high. We know our start to the Premier League already and we have to take advantage in the pre-season. We have to work very hard to be able to be ready at the right moments to start at a high level and a competitive level.
“I can ensure that they [the players] are ready to work very hard, this is for sure, and I think that they are going to enjoy it. I have explained to them why we are going to try to achieve different ways to work, and we will try to explain to them why we work in this way, but after they have to be ready to work very hard and to have high demands.
“We have a big commitment, knowing the demands we have to put on ourselves, onto the players, and all of the Club to try every day to improve on this past year."
Double training sessions mean that the players will be working extremely hard throughout the seven days in Austria, and the camp will finish with the first taste of match action against Hungarian champions Ferencváros, who are already underway with their pre-season preparations ahead of a UEFA Champions League qualifying round tie at the end of July.
Following their return from Austria early next week, the Hammers will take part in a pre-season friendly fixture against Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday 20 July at the Chigwell Construction Stadium – a ground which also serves as the home of West Ham United’s women’s team.
Lopetegui’s men will then head to the United States for the Sunshine State Tour. There, the Hammers will face Wolverhampton Wanderers in Jacksonville on Saturday 27 July, before going head-to-head with London rivals Crystal Palace in Tampa a week later. Ticket information for both fixtures in Florida can be found by clicking HERE.
Pre-Season will then conclude with the Betway Cup meeting with Celta Vigo at London Stadium on Saturday 10 August. Season Ticket Holders and Bondholders can purchase tickets for that match now HERE.
