Last weekend saw West Ham’s first Premier League victory in two months as they stopped the rot with a vital 1-0 home win against relegation strugglers Swansea. The Hammers were on the edge of being dragged into the scrap to beat the drop themselves, but the win has all but put to bed the idea of relegation this term.

However, there could be trouble on the cards at West Ham as rumours of dressing room unrest are doing the rounds in the national press. As reported by the mirror, the club is expected to face a succession of pay rise demands from a number of key men in the coming weeks. The issue is likely going to come to a head this summer, and if West Ham’s unsettled stars aren’t given what they want, they could look to force their way out of the club.

So why the unrest? Well, it’s all down to the January signings of Jose Fonte and Robert Snodgrass. European Championship winner Fonte reportedly signed a deal worth £65,000 per week and Snodgrass is rumoured to be earning a serious amount of money as well, believed to be around the £60,000-a-week mark. Both were brought in to help push the Hammers up the table and both have flattered to deceive since signing, all be it during the very early stages of their West Ham career.

The deals offered out to the two new boys have left some West Ham stalwarts scratching their heads. Both are thought to be on considerably more than the likes of Cheikhou Kouyate, Mark Noble, Winston Reid and Michail Antonio.

Despite picking up a season ending injury recently, it won’t change the fact that Antonio has been West Ham’s best player this season – by an absolute country mile. The Englishman deserves a new deal, and it is rumoured that he wants to be on at least the same pay as Fonte and Snodgrass. However, West Ham have failed to satisfy their star mans demands so far, and with Chelsea lurking in the background it’s not crazy to think they could lose him this summer should the West Ham board not stump up the cash.

As the Hammers move forward into the next campaign, and look to recover from what has been a pretty appalling season all round, they could certainly do with keeping their best performers from this term. Add to that the fact that it’s next to impossible to achieve anything of note without a strong team harmony, then you can see that the West Ham board have little choice but to pay the same high wages Fonte and Snodgrass are on to those who deserve it.

Antonio and Reid have been exceptional this year in a side that has performed poorly, these two players in particular need to be treated well by West Ham as they’ll have plenty of other suitors, both domestically and abroad.