Vladimir Coufal explains what Graham Potter told him about his 'very difficult' West Ham exit

The problem with looking to the future – as West Ham United are aiming to do after another poor Premier League campaign – is that favourites of the past tend to be left by the wayside.

Take Vladimir Coufal, for instance.

Far from a West Ham United legend but certainly a cult hero. A Conference League-winning icon and one of the most consistent, dependable performers during a half-decade in which the Hammers have ascended to previously untouched heights at times while also slipping well below expectations at others.

Coufal bid farewell to life at the London Stadium alongside Aaron Cresswell, Lukasz Fabianski and Danny Ings at the end of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign.

Hammers News understands that West Ham plan to ‘reinvent’ Graham Potter’s squad with younger players the priority this summer.

As such, there was no longer a place for four players aged between 32 and 40.

Vladimir Coufal reflects on his West Ham United departure

Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images

Now, Coufal still hopes for a Premier League lifeline, five months after West Ham rebuffed an approach from capital city neighbours Fulham.

After what he himself describes as a ‘very difficult’ and ’emotionally intense’ departure, the former Slavia Prague defender is ready to get back on the horse.

“I’ll take a vacation and then I’ll slowly prepare for the new season, [as if] I am preparing normally,” Coufal tells Idnes ahead of the Czech Republic’s World Cup qualifiers against Montenegro and Croatia this month.

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“I’m calm. That is life in football.”

Coufal was informed by Graham Potter before the 2-0 win at Manchester United in mid-May that he would not be retained by the claret and blue club.

But what will really live in the memory – more so than the disappointment of his departure – is the reaction from a Hammers fanbase who took a consistent, committed and eternally hard-working footballer to their heart almost immediately after his arrival from Slavia Prague.

“Three rounds before the end of the season, coach Potter told me before the game at Manchester United [that I would be released],” Coufal explains. “It was emotionally intense, very difficult.

Photo by Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images

“I would compare it to not wanting to leave the girl you love and she leaves you. That’s very unpleasant.

“But I played there for five years and I think at a decent level. I left something there. The reactions [when my exit was confirmed] were incredible. I didn’t expect that.”

Coufal backs Tomas Soucek to make Premier League historty

Close friend and long-term teammate Tomas Soucek is another experienced player who could be on his way out of the London Stadium.

Everton and Leeds opened talks with Soucek in May amid claims that Graham Potter has doubts about his ability to last the course in the Premier League following his 30th birthday.

It will take some time before Coufal gets used to walking into work in the morning without seeing Soucek’s face smiling back at him, though the former expects the latter to stay in England and smash Patrick Berger’s record.

Berger is currently the most prolific Czech footballer in Premier League history with 38 goals. Soucek is currently just two behind the former Liverpool midfielder.

“I cannot imagine, in six weeks’ [time], coming to a different club where I don’t see him in the changing room! It’s going to be so strange and weird for me. I will miss him on and off the pitch,” says a defender who played alongside Soucek at Slovan Liberec and Slavia Prague before both players moved to London in 2020.

“I think he will overtake Patrick Berger next season.

“For me, it is a shame [to part ways]. He’s a big miss for me but we shared unbelievable memories and unbelievable experiences together. I will never [be able to] thank him enough.”

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