West Ham endured a miserable afternoon in the North East. One which would have relieved a lot of nerves in a certain quarter of North London. Nuno Espírito Santo opted to field a back five, but looked all at sea in the opening half hour, as Newcastle raced to a 2-0 lead through goals from Nick Woltemade and William Osula. The Hammers looked better after making a first-half sub and going to a back four, but an Osula second half goal confirmed their fate on the night. A wondergoal from Taty Castellanos proved to be nothing but a consolation.
It means West Ham are now two points behind Tottenham, who still have two games to play (away at Chelsea and at home to Everton). The Hammers host Leeds on the final day, but with a significantly inferior goal difference to Spurs, only a win combined with two Tottenham defeats would see them beat the drop. It now looks almost definite that West Ham will be playing Championship football next to season. But this doesn't mean all their players will have the same fate. Here at Transfermarkt, we have picked out four players who could be targeted for Premier League transfers this summer.
Four West Ham players targeted for Premier League transfers
Jarrod Bowen
Jarrod Bowen has been Mr West Ham over the past five years, and without their talismanic captain, they could have probably been relegated sooner. There will be no shortage of Premier League clubs queuing up to lure him back to the top flight, and it seems extremely unlikely that the Hammers will be able to hold on to him in the Championship. Everton, Liverpool and Newcastle have all been heavily linked and could see Bowen as a cheaper alternative for a ready-made Premier League winger.
Crysencio Summerville
Another winger who will be on the radar of many Premier League clubs will be Dutchman Crysencio Summerville. It took a long time for him to show his worth in claret and blue, but his purple patch of form in the new year will not have gone unnoticed by Premier League clubs, and he possesses a very favourable profile. Tottenham and his former club Leeds are thought to be some of the clubs circling around his signature, with West Ham likely to be forced into a lower fee for his sale without top-flight football.
Mateus Fernandes
In the second half of the season, Mateus Fernandes emerged as one of the top young midfielders in the division. The Portuguese star struggled to justify his €44m fee early on, but after settling into a central midfield berth, really began to show his quality. Premier League leaders Arsenal are thought to be one of the clubs trying to strike a deal for the 21 year old this summer.
El Hadji Malick Diouf