James Jones
The recent news that Angelo Ogbonna was set to end his nine-year spell at West Ham means there are now just two players from the final season at Upton Park left at the club.
Aaron Cresswell, who signed a one-year contract extension recently, and Michail Antonio are still at the club nine years after that famous season when Slaven Bilic and his West Ham side secured a 7th placed finish in the Premier League and gave Upton Park the perfect send off before moving to London Stadium.
It has been a rollercoaster of a ride since the move, but that 2015/16 season will live long in the memories of West Ham fans everywhere.
The squad was full of talent, underlined by the magic of Dimitri Payet, the flair of Manuel Lanzini and the emergence of Michail Antonio as a West Ham hero. That squad will go down in history as one of the best in the club’s Premier Leaguer era. But where are they now?
West Ham’s last season at Upton Park
Here’s a look at where every single player in the squad is now…
Goalkeepers
Adrian
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Spaniard made 36 appearances in all competitions in the 2015/2016 season and by then had already established himself as a fan favourite through his consistent performances between the sticks and passion for the shirt.
He would remain at the club for three more seasons before leaving the club on a free transfer. He surprisingly signed for Liverpool, where he has been since the 2019/2020 season. In that time, he has made just 26 first team appearances for the Reds, but has has still managed to win the Premier League, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and the Community Shield.
He’s now Liverpool’s third choice goalkeeper.
Darren Randolph
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Irish goalkeeper made 15 appearances that season as Adrian’s back-up and was in the starting XI for the last ever game at Upton Park, as West Ham beat Manchester United 3-2.
Randolph went on to play 27 games in the club’s first season at London Stadium before moving to Middlesbrough for three seasons.
He would return to the club for four more years in 2019 but only made 10 more appearances for the club in that time before leaving on a free transfer and signing for Bournemouth. But he failed to make a single appearance for the Cherries before being released this summer.
Defenders
Winston Reid
Embed from Getty ImagesThe New Zealand international was already one of the best players at the club by the time the 2015/2016 season came around and it was his header against Manchester United that became the last ever goal to be scored at Upton Park.
Given that he arrived at the club in 2010 as an unknown player from FC Midtjylland, Reid’s West Ham career was hugely successful and for many years he was the best centre-back at the club.
After 15/16, he would remain at the club for another six years, although a serious knee injury prevented him from making a single appearance between 2018 and 2020.
He had two loan spells before being released in 2022. Firstly with Sporting Kansas City in the MLS, where he made 12 appearances, and then in the Championship with Brentford, where he also played 12 times.
He eventually the left West Ham having played 222 games and scoring 10 goals, but he will forever go down in West Ham history as the last ever goalscorer at Upton Park.
Aaron Cresswell
Embed from Getty ImagesThe 2015/2016 season was Aaron Cresswell’s second at West Ham. He made 47 first appearances in that season, scoring twice.
The left-back was instrumental to the team that season and has remained so ever since, although he has seen his playing time limited somewhat over the last year.
Since signing from Ipswich Town, Cresswell has gone on to make 349 first team appearances for West Ham, scoring 11 goals. He was part of the squad that went on to win the Europa Conference League trophy in 2022/2023.
Cresswell recently signed a one-year extension at West Ham and admitted that while he is no longer the club’s first choice left-back, he still loves it at the club and sees it as home. Given his longevity at the club and having been in the squad that ended the club’s 43 year wait for silverware, he will eventually leave the club as a legend.
James Tomkins
Embed from Getty ImagesYouth academy product James Tomkins played 32 games for the club in 2015/2016 and it prove to be his last season at the club having been a mainstay in the Hammers’ defence for seven years. He made his debut for the club in 2007/2008 and went on to make 243 appearances in claret and blue, scoring 11 goals.
He joined Crystal Palace for £10m in the summer of 2016 remained their ever since, although it was announced that he would be leaving the Eagles at the end of his contract in the summer of 2024, having made 136 appearances for the south London outfit.
Now 35, it’s unclear what’s next for Tomkins’ career, with injury limiting his playing time significantly over the last four years of his Selhurst Park career.
Joey O’Brien
Embed from Getty ImagesJoey O’Brien made just seven appearances for West Ham in 2015/2016, all of which came in cup competitions.
He was originally an important part of the West Ham side to get promoted from the Championship under Sam Allardyce in 2011/2012 but steadily saw his first-team opportunities reduced as his five-year spell in east London progressed.
He was released at the end of his contract in June 2016 before returning to his homeland, Ireland, to sign for Shamrock Rovers 18 months later.
He would make 87 appearances from Shamrock over the next four seasons, scoring four goals. Now retired, O’Brien is the current assistant manager of Shelbourne.
James Collins
Embed from Getty ImagesIn his second-spell at West Ham, the Wales international made 25 appearances for the Hammers in the 2015/2016 season. He would stay at the club for two more years before his contract expired at the end of the 2017/2018 season.
The centre-back signed a short-term contract with Ipswich Town in 2018/2019 but made just six appearances for the Championship club before being released at the end of that season.
Collins announced his retirement from football in October 2020 and is now the co-host of West Ham’s official podcast, as well as regarded as a West Ham legend amongst supporters.
Over the course of two spells at West Ham, Collins made 214 appearances for the club, scoring nine goals.
Angelo Ogbonna
Embed from Getty ImagesAngelo Ogbonna leaves the club this summer after nine hugely successful seasons at the heart of West Ham’s defence.
The Italian signed from Juventus for £10m in the summer of 2015 would go on to become one of the best defenders in the club’s modern history, making 249 appearances during his time in east London, scoring 13 goals.
Ogbonna made 34 appearances in the 2015/2016 season. His only goal that season was a 121st minute winner against Liverpool in an FA Cup 4th-round replay at Upton Park.
He was part of the West Ham team that won the Europa Conference League in the 2022/2023 season and will go down as a legend of the football club.
Carl Jenkinson
Embed from Getty ImagesCarl Jenkinson signed from Arsenal on loan in July 2014 and after a successful season, agreed to return for a second loan spell in 2015/2016.
Injuries meant he was unable to make the same impression on West Ham in his second season as he made 23 appearances, scoring twice.
After West Ham, Jenkinson spent a season on loan with Birmingham City before signing permanently with Nottingham Forest, where he spent two seasons. In his third season, he joined Melbourne City on loan.
In August 2022, the right-back signed a two-year contract with Newcastle Jets. He was released at the end of the 2023/2024 season.
Sam Byram
Embed from Getty ImagesThe right-back signed for West Ham from Leeds in January 2016 and arrived with a great deal of promise as one of the best young right-backs in the country at the time. Given West Ham’s previous success of signing good players from the Championship, there was a lot of hope that he would go on to have a long and successful career in claret and blue.
However, it didn’t really work out for Byram in east London and he made just 36 appearances for the club over a four-year period. He spent his final season at the club on loan at Nottingham Forest before he signed for Norwich City in July 2016 for £750k.
He stayed at Norwich for four seasons, playing just 54 times as the Canaries suffered two Premier League relegations and a promotion during that time.
Byram rejoined Leeds in August 2023 on a free transfer and played 37 times for the Whites as they went on to lose to Southampton in the Championship play-off final in May 2024.
Doneil Henry
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Canadian centre-back joined West Ham in January 2015 from Toronto FC and made his one and only first-team appearance for the club at the beginning of the 2015/2016 season in a 2-1 Europa League qualifying defeat to FC Astra.
He subsequently struggled to force his way into a permanent first-team consideration and eventually left the club in December 2017 after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent. Before then, the defender was sent on loan to Blackburn Rovers twice, but he managed four appearances over those two spells. He also had a short loan spell with AC Horsens, where he made just four appearances.
Since leaving West Ham, Henry became a bit of journeyman. He spent two seasons in the MLS with Vancouver Whitecaps, while also spending time on loan with Ottawa Fury in the USL. Two seasons between 2020 and 2021 in South Korea followed with Suwon Samsung Bluewings, where he arguably enjoyed the most sustained period of first team action since leaving Toronto FC in 2014, as he made 46 appearances and scored three goals.
A return to the MLS followed in 2022 with a season with Los Angeles FC, where he made six appearances. In the same year, Henry returned to Toronto FC for a short spell that saw him play eight times. In 2023, Hnery played for two different clubs – Minnesota United in the MLS and HFX Wanderers in the Canadian Premier League.
According to his Wikipedia page, he now serves as the Sporting Director of League1 Ontario club Simcoe County Rovers, of which he also the co-owner.
Reece Burke
Embed from Getty ImagesAcademy graduate Reece Burke made three appearances in the 2015/2016, all coming in the Europa League qualifying rounds.
He struggled to force his way into regular first-team action during his time at the club and spent much of his time on loan, with spells at Bradford City, Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers making up the bulk of his first years in professional football.
In July 2018, Burke joined Hull City for £1.5m and spent three seasons with the Tigers, including experiencing relegation to League One in 2020/2021. At the end of that season, Burke left Hull at the end of his contract and signed for Championship side Luton Town.
He would go on to become an important member of the Hatters’ first team and was part of the side that secured Luton’s promotion to the Premier League in 2022/2023. He then made 22 Premier League appearances for the Hatters as they were relegated back to the second tier at the first time of asking.
Midfielders
Alex Song
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter a successful first season on loan from Barcelona, Alex Song returned for a second consecutive season on loan for the 2015/2016 season but was unable to replicate the kind of form that had West Ham keen to keep him at the club for another year. The Cameroon international made just 15 appearances in all competitions that season.
His lack of game time prevented West Ham from signing him permanently at the end of the season following the expiration of his Barcelona contract, and so the midfielder signed for Rubin Kazan on a free transfer. He would spend two years in Russia before joining Swiss outfit FC Sion for two years.
He was subsequently sacked by Sion in 2020 for refusing to take a pay cut during the coronavirus pandemic. Later in 2020, he signed for Djiboutian club Arta/Solar7.
Song announced his retirement from football in November 2023.
Cheikhou Kouyate
Embed from Getty ImagesCkeikhou Kouyate signed for West Ham a year earlier in a £7m deal from Anderlecht and instantly made himself at home in central midfield.
In the 2015/2016 season, the Senegal international played an integral role in the club’s success, playing 42 times and scoring five goals, including the opener in West Ham’s 2-0 opening day victory over Arsenal at the Emirates.
He remained at the club for a further two seasons and cemented himself into West Ham history by becoming the first player to score a competitive goal at London Stadium as he scored twice in a 3-0 win over NK Domzale in a Europa League qualifier. He made 147 appearances for the Hammers over four years, scoring 15 goals.
In August 2018, Kouyate left to sign for Crystal Palace in a deal reportedly worth £9.5m. The midfielder spent the next four years of his career in south London, making 141 appearances and scoring three goals.
After Palace, Kouyate joined Nottingham Forest in August 2022 and went on to make 36 appearances over the next two seasons, scoring once.
He is now a free agent after being released by Forest in June 2024.
Pedro Obiang
Embed from Getty ImagesPedro Obiang signed from Sampdoria in the summer of 2015 and went on to make 30 appearances in his first campaign in England.
The Spaniard would go on to make 116 appearances for the club over a four year period, scoring three goals, including a 30-yard rocket against Tottenham at Wembley, which won the club’s Goal of the Season award in the 2017/2018 season.
The central midfielder left the club to sign for Italian club Sassuolo in July 2019. Two years later he was diagnosed with bronchopulmonary disease, which ruled him out of the entire 2021/2022 season.
Obiang is still at Sassuolo and played just eight times in the recent 2023/2024 campaign. In his five years there, the midfielder has made 86 appearances, scoring one goal.
Mark Noble
Embed from Getty ImagesCaptain Mark Noble spent his entire career at West Ham, aside from loan spells with Hull City and Ipswich Town.
In the 2015/2016 season, he was the driving force behind the club’s success, with his passion and love for the club always at the front and centre of his impressive performances. Much like his entire West Ham career, to be honest. He would make 46 appearances that season, scoring seven goals.
He eventually left the club and retired at the end of the 2021/2022 season having made 550 appearances in claret and blue, scoring 62 goals.
Noble is now sporting director at West Ham and plays a vital role in the recruitment and development of the youth team, while he also plays a role in scouting and recruitment for the first-team.
Known as Mr. West Ham, Noble is a West Ham legend.
Victor Moses
Embed from Getty ImagesVictor Moses joined West Ham on loan from Chelsea for the 2015/2016 season and made 26 appearances for the club, scoring two goals.
After that season, he returned to Chelsea and became a vital member of Antonio Conte’s Chelsea side that won the Premier League in 2016/2017 and the FA Cup the following season. Following Conte’s departure, Moses fell out of favour at Chelsea and spent 18-months on loan at Fenerbahce. Before eventually leaving Chelsea, he also had loan spells with Inter Milan and Spartak Moscow.
In 2021, he joined Spartak Moscow permanently. He has been there ever since, making 63 appearances and scoring six goals over the last three seasons.
Dimitri Payet
Embed from Getty ImagesDimitri Payet is widely regarded as one of the most gifted players to have ever played for West Ham. He joined the club in the summer of 2015 from Marseille for £10.7m and became the most iconic figure of West Ham’s last seaosn at Upton Park.
His skill, finesse, outrageous vision and free-kick abilities saw him become an instant hit, not just with West Ham fans but the rest of Europe. His performances that season saw him nominated for the Balon d’Or the following summer. In 2015/2016, Payet made 38 appearances, scoring 12 goals.
His Balon d’Or nomination and performances for France at Euro 2016 saw him heavily linked with a move away from the club, but he remained beyond the 2016 summer transfer window to play 22 more times for the club.
However, in January 2017, manager Slaven Bilic admitted publicly that Payet had refused to play again for the club in an attempt to earn a move away in the winter transfer window. It was a dagger to the heart of the West Ham fans who had grown to love him, but he was eventually sold back to Marseille £25m that month.
He would go on to spend the next six-and-a-half years at Marseille, making 243 appearances and scoring 63 goals. In 2023, Payet moved to Brazilian Serie A side Vasco de Gama, where he still plays.
Manuel Lanzini
Embed from Getty ImagesManuel Lanzini joined the club on loan from Al Jazira in the summer of 2015 and, alongside Payet, become an instant hit in claret and blue. His seven goals in 31 appearances in 2015/2016 convinced the club to make his loan deal permanent in 2016, reportedly paying £10m for his signature.
He would go on to make 226 appearances for West Ham over an eight-year spell, scoring 32 goals. He was part of the squad that won the Europa Conference League in 2022/2023. In the summer of 2023, it was announced Lanzini would be leaving the club at the end of his contract to return to his boyhood club in Argentina, River Plate.
In his first season back at River Plate, Lanzini made 17 appearances.
Known as The Jewel, Lanzini will go down as a hero amongst supporters following many years of important goals, memorable performances and his loyalty to the club.
Michail Antonio
Embed from Getty ImagesHe may no longer be a midfielder, but Michail Antonio originally joined West Ham as a winger from Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2015.
In his first season – 2015/2016 – Antonio scored nine goals in 32 appearances, including his equaliser against Manchester United in the final game at Upton Park.
Since then, Antonio has become a mainstay in West Ham’s squad and played as both a right-back and striker during that period, despite several injury issues over the years.
No formally recognised as a striker, Antonio has been the go-to front man for several seasons as the club continues its search for an alternative. However, he has made the role his own, so much so that he has become the club’s all-time leading goal scorer in the Premier League era with 67 and has a total of 82 goals in 308 appearances for West Ham.
It’s just he and Aaron Cresswell left at the club from the 2015/2016 squad.
Reece Oxford
Embed from Getty ImagesReece Oxford became the second youngster starter in Premier League history when he started West Ham’s opening day victory over Arsenal in 2015/2016. His performance that day caught the attention of the entire country, with widespread acknowledgement that he bossed the midfield and kept Mesut Ozil quiet.
It led to the belief that he would go onto become a big name player for both West Ham and England – much like Declan Rice did a few seasons after him – but it just didn’t work out that way in the end.
Oxford would make just 12 appearances in his debut season before making only five more over the course of the next three seasons. Loan spells at both Reading, Borussia Monchengladbach and Augsburg failed to reignite his potential.
He joined Augsburg permanently in the summer of 2019.
Oxford is still at Augsburg but has seen his playing time become more and more limited over time. A lot of that is down to ongoing issues with the after affects of COVID-19. Constant muscle injuries due to long COVID has led to him making just three appearances in the last two seasons.
Mauro Zarate
Embed from Getty ImagesMauro Zarate joined West Ham in May 2014 but aside from a handful of good performances, really failed to make his mark on the club. He made 21 appearances and scored five foals in the first half of the 2015/2016 season before signing for Fiorentina in January 2016.
After 18 months with Fiorentina, Zarate returned to England with Watford but injury forced him to make just three appearances for the Hornets in 2016/2017.
Since then, Zarate has enjoyed spells with Al Nasr, Velez Sarsfield, Boca Juniors, America Mineiro, Juventude and Platense.
In January 2023, Zarate agreed to join Italian Serie B outfit Cosenza until the end of the season but he suffered an ACL injury just a few weeks after joining the club.
Strikers
Andy Carroll
Embed from Getty ImagesAndy Carroll originally joined West Ham on loan in 2012/2013 before joining permanently from Liverpool a year later, but he saw his first three seasons at the club suffering with injury. His most successful season at the club was the 2015/2016 campaign, where he scored nine goals in 32 appearances, including a hat-trick in a dramatic 3-3 draw with Arsenal at Upton Park – the last ever hat-trick to ever be scored at the ground.
His entire West Ham career was underlined by injury problems that stunted his full potential, but when he was fit and performing he was often unplayable. Over the course of seven seasons at the club, over half of which he spent sidelined, Carroll scored 34 goals in 142 appearances for the Hammers.
He returned to boyhood club Newcastle in 2019 but saw his two seasons there hampered with injury, too. Afterwards, he had two seperate spells at Reading, which sandwiched a season with West Bromwich Albion.
Carroll now plays in France for Ligue 2 side Amiens, where he scored four goals in 31 appearances in 2023/2024.
Enner Valencia
Embed from Getty ImagesEnner Valencia joined the club from Pachuca for £12m in July 2014 and largely struggled to make his mark at the club over the next three years.
In 2015/2016, the forward scored five goals in 24 appearances and the following season joined Everton on loan in August 2016. There, he would score three goals in 23 appearances.
In July 2017, Valencia joined Mexican club Tigres in a £4.2m deal and there he hit the ground running, 32 goals in 87 appearances in his first two seasons. He goalscoring form dropped off in 2019/2020, with just three goals in 31 appearances, which led to him leaving the club on a free transfer.
Valencia returned Europe with Fenerbahce, where he scored 59 goals in 116 appearances over three seasons, including 33 in his last season – 29 of which came in the Super Lig, securing him the Turkish top-flight’s golden boot in 2022/2023.
Valencia now plays for Brazilian side Internacional and has scored 19 goals in 42 appearances since joining them in 2023.
Diafra Sakho
Embed from Getty ImagesDiafra Sakho joined the club from Metz in 2014/2015 and enjoyed a successful first season at the club under Sam Allardyce.
The Senegal international went on to make 24 appearances under Slaven Bilic in 2015/2016, scoring seven goals.
He would remain at the club for two more seasons at London Stadium but injuries got the better of him, which limited the striker to just 21 appearances and five goals after the last season at Upton Park.
After West Ham, Sakho returned to France with Rennes, where he spent two seasons, although one of those was spent in Turkey with Bursaspor.
He has also spent time playing Switzerland with Neuchatel Xmax and Djibouti with Arta/Solar7. He most recently joined Nancy in France in August 2022 before announcing his retirement in July 2023.
Emmanuel Emenike
Embed from Getty ImagesEmmanuel Emenike joined West Ham on loan from Fenerbahce for the 2015/2016 season and managed just 16 appearances, most of which were as a substitute, scoring just two goals.
After his single season in east London, the Nigerian signed for Olympiacos on a two-year deal in July 2017 but by November that year, he had reportedly been told to train alone and away from the first-team, sparking rumours of unrest. He had complained that he felt unsafe at his home in Greece, which forced Olympiacos to hire extra security to protect him.
Before leaving Greece by mutual consent in July 2018, Emeneke spent the second half of the 2017/2018 on loan at Las Palmas.
In August 2019, the striker joined Belgian club Westerlo but left the club after playing just five games, with the club announcing the decision to release him just three months into his contract due to “not bringing the level that both parties had intended.”
Nikica Jelavic
Embed from Getty ImagesNikica Jelavic signed for West Ham on a two-year contract in the summer of 2015 but, after just 15 underwhelming performances iand two goals, he left to sign for Beijing Renhe the following summer.
The Croatia internatial would spend the next three years in China, three of which were with Chinese Super League club Guizhou Zincheng.
In August 2020, Jelavic returned to Croatia with Lokomotiva, before announcing his retirement in March 2021 after picking up a knee injury.
