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West Ham United’s run of injuries during the international break is suspected to have continued, with a first-team player rumoured to have suffered an injury.

Over the course of the 2026 World Cup, the Hammers suffered a long-term injury to Czech Republic international Tomas Soucek, who is only now finally returning to the squad, but Hammers fans will have to face the ‘one-in, one out’ curse as Manor Solomon is suspected to have picked up a back injury in Israel’s goalless draw against Kosovo.

It has been said that Solomon is a doubt for their fixture tonight against Ireland, but he hasn’t officially been sent back to West Ham for treatment yet, perhaps being the only reassuring sign.

Losing Manor Solomon wouldn’t be ideal, but it would open a starting slot for Edvin Austbø, who’s shown his form in recent weeks.

Fortunately for the Hammers, our Championship schedule is fairly spread out, with only five matches in 22 days. For context, we most recently had six games in just 18 days!

More information on the injury will be confirmed later tonight, depending on whether Manor Solomon is, or more so isn’t, involved in their final UEFA Nations League group game this month.

Nils Koppen, who joined West Ham during the summer transfer window, was the leader behind the fate of how the exits and incomings would go. Nils recently sat down on the official West Ham podcast ‘Irons Cast’ and discussed how he was brought into the club whilst also giving insight into the decisions he made and the strategies he put in place.

Coming into the club whilst in the middle of the transfer window, it was a huge objective to undergo, being placed with a task to effectively rebuild a side whilst almost minimising costs due to the debt the Hammers are in. Tricky stuff!

Whilst the 37-minute conversation revealed a lot, the biggest part was the discussion of how the club actually focused on targets, with Nils admitting that the previous system was simply not good enough.

He said, “If I sign a player that the manager doesn’t want, he’s not going to play him. So from day one, for each position, we sat together, determined the top targets and were fortunate to get most of the ones we wanted over the line”

He also discussed the need to focus on academy players for the Championship season and going forward. “We have in our board document a page asking: is he blocking an academy player or not?”

To see a focus on providing the opportunity for youth players is astronomical, and it’s a factor that the Hammers haven’t truly had over the past decade.

Finally, Nils concluded this section saying that “When I came in, we should be fully aligned between the recruitment staff, the board and the manager. Then we’re going to make decisions together…in the past that has been done differently”

Perhaps a slight dig at a few individuals comes to the conclusion, but all in all it appears that the ‘scattergun’ approach that the Hammers have had previously is now no more.

Nils Koppen has proved this window that he could be a key figure going forward, and with the January window ahead, his team’s attention is now turning towards that.

Alphonso Areola will officially return to the first team once the international break is over, after being sidelined due to a lengthy thigh injury that has kept him out for the entire season so far. The wise Frenchman has made over 119 appearances in Claret & Blue but now likely resides on the bench, with Mads Hermansen taking his starting slot.

Many Hammers fans have suggested that Areola should return between the sticks over the Dane, but Nuno thinks otherwise and perhaps, rightly so. Mads Hermansen has kept a total of 9 clean sheets for the club in just 26 appearances. Whilst Areola has played 119 matches, keeping only 17.

Areola attempted to secure a move away from the Hammers over the summer, but his attempt wasn’t successful, and he ultimately remained at West Ham despite a few deals being offered abroad.

The Frenchman has made it clear to the club that he’s happy to run down his deal, but his contract expires next summer. West Ham do have an option to extend for another year, but at this stage, it seems unlikely to do so.

Areola will almost certainly be on the bench against QPR at the London Stadium, but whether he will start once again at West Ham United is unknown.

Heading into the three-week international break, the Hammers have rounded off their eight-seven games with four wins, three draws and one dreaded loss, which places West Ham in second place behind Swansea, who currently have 17 points compared to our 15.

However, diving into the international break, eight West Ham United players have been called up for international duty, those being: Mads Hermansen for Denmark, Manor Solomon for Israel, Edvin Austbø for Norway’s U21s, and our joint top scorer this campaign, Konstantinos Mavropanos for Greece.

For their U20s side, the Hammers have had FOUR players included in England’s U20s, those being Airidas Golambeckis, Finlay Herrick, Ezra Mayers and Divine Mukasa.

The remainder of our squad will be able to rest and recoup for what will be a crucial run before the next international break, which is at the beginning of November. Upon returning to our first fixture, which is at the London Stadium against QPR, Tomáš Souček is expected to make a return to West Ham for the first time this season and will replace Mohamadou Kante, who will be serving his one-match suspension in that Friday night London derby.