West Ham are likely to enter the 2023/24 campaign without captain Declan Rice, with the midfielder set for a move away from the London Stadium this summer.
Rice has been subject to interest from a host of Premier League clubs for some time now, but after leading West Ham to European glory, the Englishman has his eyes set on a new challenge away from the Hammers. Rice took the captaincy off Mark Noble when the latter retired at the end of the 2021/22 season, with the 24-year-old having made just under 250 appearances for West Ham.
Arsenal and Manchester City have both made attempts to sign Rice already this summer, and it seems Edu has now agreed a £105million fee for the England international. However, conversations remain ongoing regarding the structure of the deal.
So, if Rice departs West Ham this summer, how could Moyes' side perform in the 2023/24 season? Let's take a look.
To set up this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2023 editor to transfer list Rice, with the midfielder signing for Arsenal for £94million on July 1, 2023. Using FM23 to run the simulation, we then simulated the entire 2023/24 season to see how West Ham could play without their captain and who they would sign as his replacement.
Moyes' first bit of business was using the money earned from Rice's sale to improve his squad, with James Ward-Prowse, Kalvin Phillips, Youssef En-Nesyri, Alex Scott and Dean Henderson all signing for the Hammers for a combined fee of £127million. El-Nesyri was West Ham's top scorer in the simulation with 23 goals in all competitions, whilst James Ward-Prowse registered the highest average rating per game (7.38).
READ MORE: Declan Rice to Arsenal transfer delay explained as Edu continues £105m West Ham talks
At the end of the 2023/24 season, Football Manager 2023 put together an overall best West Ham XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what the Hammers' best XI looked like at the end of the 2023/24 season as predicted by Football Manager 2023:
Full West Ham best XI (4-2-3-1): Henderson; Coufal, Ogbonna, Zouma, Emerson; Ward-Prowse, Soucek; Bowen, Paqueta, Fornals; El-Nesyri.
Three of West Ham's summer signings made the best XI, with Henderson starting in goal whilst Ward-Prowse partnered Tomas Soucek in the midfield pivot. Top scorer En-Nesyri started up top, whilst Phillips and Scott missed out on the best XI, with Lucas Paqueta occupying the attacking midfielder role alongside Jarrod Bowen and Paolo Fornals.
Despite losing Rice, West Ham started the season really well, with Moyes' side sitting just outside the Champions League positions for the majority of the first half of the season. A blip in form between January and March saw the Hammers drop down the table, but they rediscovered their best form to end the season in ninth place, just missing out on European football for the following season.
14 wins, 13 draws and 11 defeats saw the Hammers pick up 55 points in total, the same as eighth place Tottenham, one less than Newcastle and Chelsea in seventh and sixth, and just three fewer than Arsenal in fifth and the Champions League spots. A draw against Man City on the final day of the season saw Moyes' side drop out the European spots, moving from seventh to ninth on the final day.
As disappointing as the ending was, West Ham earned 15 more points than last season, finishing five positions higher in the table. After their Europa Conference League victory, the Hammers qualified for the Europa League in the 2023/24 season, but they were unable to win the cup and earn a spot in the Champions League in the simulation.
After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, former West Ham striker Sebastian Haller got on the scoresheet as Borussia Dortmund won 2-0 to eliminate the Hammers in the Europa League quarter-finals. A 3-0 loss to Aston Villa ended Moyes' FA Cup run in the quarter-finals, whilst a penalty shootout loss to Brentford saw West Ham exit the Carabao Cup in the second round.
Overall, FM23 predicts that if West Ham were to sell Rice, the Hammers could actually improve, if the money is used right. Moyes' side pushed for a European spot whilst going on a respectable Europa League run, showing that the Hammers can do just fine without their captain next season.
How do you think West Ham could cope without Rice? Let us know in the comments!
