West Ham United have already began their mass clearout ahead of the 2017/18 season, with Jonathan Calleri, Álvaro Arbeloa and Gökhan Töre the main players of seven to be leaving the London Stadium as the Hammers released their retained players list.

Failed to cut it

It was a disappointing season to be a West Ham supporter, with the club performing below everyone's perceptions eventually finishing in 11th having flirted with prospect of relegation, but manager Slaven Bilić who has stated his side need "game-changers" has looked to rectify that with a mass cull of bit squad players.

There was optimism for the young striker Calleri after arriving from Deportivo Maldonado on loan, but failed to really make any sort of impact in his 19 appearances which produced just the one goal in the 3-1 win over Middlesbrough.

The season started bright for Töre providing the assist for Michail Antonio's winner against Bournemouth back in August, but the Turkish winger would only make eight appearances overall and will return to Bilić's former club Besiktas.

Arbeloa was a late purchase by Bilić last summer, and the World Cup winner will be moving on come June 30 having made just four appearances across all competitions.

Youngsters Sam Howes, Sam Ford, Kyle Knoyle and Sam Westley have also all been released, while the trio of Moses Makasi, Noha Sylvestre and Alex Pike have all received one-year extensions.

Already making big additions

The Hammers have wasted no time in beginning to sort out their squad for the beginning of next season, as they announced their first signing of the summer with the imminent arrival of former Manchester City full-back Pablo Zabaleta.

The Argentine is a veteran of the Premier League having spent nine years at the Etihad Stadium, the 32-year-old signed a two-year deal with the Hammers and shared his delight at signing on the dotted line.

This is an absolute pleasure to be part of West Ham United Football Club,” Zabaleta told West Ham TV “I hope I can give you good moments."

"Of course, I come to the Club to enjoy myself and hopefully we can have a very successful time,” he stated. “Also, as a player, I thought I wanted to keep playing in the Premier League."

"For me, after being in this country for so long, this is a new challenge for me in the Premier League," Zabaleta concluded. "I’m ready for it and looking forward to it.”

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Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.