Slaven Bilic’s side West Ham United have made decent start in the last couple of seasons and though the Hammers are struggling 12th place in the points table, it cannot be denied that, when fully fit, the Hammers can compete with the best in the league. Hammers manager has made a number of changes to the squad at the Olympic Stadium in recent times and though the Croatian manager got most of the new signings to shine, he has not had a 100% record with his transfers.
While he along with his site has spent on players not living up to requirement, they have also let a few players leave their rank in recent times. West Ham have shipped out some of their most talented prospects to bigger clubs recently and surely, they have been missing in-depth quality this season. Though fans might not agree with this, but here, we share two players West Ham should have never sold in recent times.
James Tomkins (Crystal Palace)
The 28-year-old versatile defender, who is yet to represent to England senior team though he has represented England at all levels up to the under-21 team and representing Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics. Tomkins can play on the wing or as a CDM, he is a product of the Hammers academy and was a pillar at the back for the club before the start of the current season.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic, for some strange reason, decided to ship out the 28-year-old to join a Premier League club, after registering 206 appearances for the Hammers.
Crystal Palace have made decent use of him this campaign and Tomkins has been one of the bright stars for the Eagles rise to success this season. In 20 appearances, he has bagged half as much goals as he did for his former side, and Bilic will surely be questioning himself as to why he let him go. At 28, Tomkins is in his prime age and the Hammers, with all their stars out of the team due to one injury or the other, Slaven Bilic would have love to have their academy graduate in the current squad.
Mohamed Diame (Newcastle United)
Mohamed Diame who is performing wonders at the St. James Park in the Championship arrived at West Ham United back in the 2012 on a free transfer from Wigna Athletic. Diame went on notching 71 appearances for the Hammers in just two season, bagging 7 goals in the process. In his last season with the Hammers, he was desirous to stay and fight for his position but the Olympic outfits decided to ship him out in 2014. This saw him join Hull City on 1 September 2014, signing a three-year contract with the Tigers. Two weeks later, he made his debut at home, scoring against his former side West Ham in a 2-2 draw.
Also, he went on impressing scoring the winning goal for Hull in a 1-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday, giving the Tigers an immediate return back to the Premier League after their relegation in the 2014-15 season.
However, he was shipped out to join Newcastle on 3 August 2016, on a three-year contract deal. He scored his first goal for the Magpies when twice in their EFL Cup win against Preston North End on 25 October 2016. Diame has earned a bright spot under Rafael Benitez with Newcastle at the St. James Park.
He has seen the net 3 times in 30 appearances this season in the Championship and the Hammers could have performed well with a player of such great caliber in an injury-hit season.
*Mohamed Diame’s info was taken from Wikipedia