Julen Lopetegui has no fresh injury concerns as he prepares to pick his first West Ham United team of the 2024/25 season.
The Hammers host Aston Villa at London Stadium on Saturday evening in what marks the Head Coach’s first competitive game in charge following his appointment this summer.
The Spaniard has no fewer than eight new signings to select from, as well as a host of international stars who he inherited when he officially arrived at the Club on 1 July.
With potentially only Edson Álvarez absent after the Mexico captain suffered a hamstring injury while in action for his country at the Copa América, Lopetegui has up to 25 senior players to choose from, including summer signings Maximilian Kilman, Niclas Füllkrug, Crysencio Summerville, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Jean-Clair Tidobo, Guido Rodríguez, Luis Guilherme and Wes Foderingham, as well as newly-appointed Club captain Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paquetá, who both scored in last weekend’s Betway Cup win over Celta Vigo.
Speaking to the media at Rush Green training ground on Thursday, the Head Coach was non-committal on who he might give the nod to against Villa, but confirmed he has a near fully-fit squad to choose from.
“Fortunately, at the moment, we don’t have bad news about the injuries,” he began. “It’s true that we have to be aware about the kind of preparation that the players had, because they arrived late and so on, so some are more ready than others. So, we have to be aware about this, and tomorrow (Friday) we are going to have more information about this but until now, I think that all of them, they are going to be ready.
“We are trying, like I said before, to wait until tomorrow, then we are going to take the last decision about the line-up, about the players who are going to be on the bench too, but this is about tomorrow. More or less we have in our minds [what we will do], but we will see.
“I think, [with] the new signings, I say that some of them are more ready than others, so we have to be focused in this and to take the right decision about the line-up, and we will see if any new signings are ready for us to use them, and others will have to wait a little bit, so let’s see what’s going to happen.”
West Ham’s eighth summer signing, right-back Wan-Bissaka, arrived from Manchester United as recently as Tuesday, but Lopetegui confirmed the 26-year-old is fit and available after playing for the Red Devils in warm-up matches.
“Let’s see,” he continued, when asked if the No29 could feature against Aston Villa. “He has played in the pre-season with Manchester United enough minutes in this case, but it is true that his first training session with us was yesterday (Wednesday), so we will see tomorrow. We are going to check tomorrow about all of them, and to take the right decision.”
One player who is unlikely to be involved is Kurt Zouma, who Lopetegui confirmed has been in discussions over a move away from the Club after three seasons in Claret and Blue, while praising the French defender’s character and ability.
“The first thing is that Kurt is a fantastic person and a very good player, and he is trying to choose his future and we are going to wait [to see what happens],” said the Head Coach. “It’s true that he’s trying to talk with other teams right now, and let’s see what is going to happen. But for sure, the team that has the opportunity to sign him, they are going to be happy with him, because he’s a good player, a very good person too. I have very big respect for Kurt.”
The starting XI for Saturday's game will be confirmed at 4.15pm, 75 minutes before kick-off as per new Premier League rules to bring it into line with UEFA competitions.
