It wasn’t so much the departure of so many experienced West Ham United campaigners that rankled with large sections of the fanbase, but the nature of those departures.

Lukasz Fabianski hit out at Potter too shortly before his own contract expired.

The veteran goalkeeper had hoped to play one last time for the Hammers. Instead, he found himself stuck on the bench, watching from the sidelines as Alphonse Areola kept his place during the Premier League run-in.

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Now, Potter is a football coach, not a charity worker. But surely it would not have hurt to give Fabianski one last outing in the starting XI once their Premier League status had been secured.

Now, speaking to Sport TVP, the former Arsenal, Swansea City and Poland shot-stopper reflects on the contentious nature of his departure, his speedy return, and his relationship with Nuno Espirito Santo’s predecessor.

Lukasz Fabianski explains why he returned to West Ham United

Fabianski rejected a return to Poland with Legia Warsaw back in May. The 40-year-old wanted to keep his young family in their London home.

So when West Ham came calling again in September, the opportunity to sign a short-term deal until the summer of 2026 was a convenient one indeed.

“My contract with West Ham ran out after last season, and the club announced they wouldn’t renew it. Because of that, I had a break, but it was a controlled break,” Fabianski says.

“After my contract expired, I had a lot of inquiries. But my family and I decided we didn’t want to move again, so the only options were teams in London or the surrounding area.”

A return to Rush Green would present itself, though, after Wes Foderingham completed a move to Cypriot outfit Aris Limassol. Thus, opening up a spot in Potter’s squad for a veteran glovesman to provide competition for Alphonse Areola and Mads Hermansen while imparting advice on the club’s next generation of up-and-coming goalkeepers.

“I spoke to a few [clubs]. But they chose other players, so I had to wait,” he adds. “At the end of the transfer window, West Ham goalkeeper Wes Foderingham left for Cyprus. At the time, I wasn’t convinced I’d return, but I knew the option would likely arise.

“For me, it was a relatively easy and natural step.”

Fabianski refuses to criticise Graham Potter

Fabianski insists that he retains a good working relationship with Graham Potter, meanwhile. The frustration he aimed towards his former boss in the heat of the moment late last season is very much water under the proverbial bridge.

“He’s a great, positive man with a meticulous approach to football and an eye for detail,” Fabianski says of the recently-appointed head coach of Sweden. “He dedicates a lot of time to creating the right atmosphere within the group.

“On the pitch, he’s very demanding. He wants the team to rely on possession, build attacks calmly, exchange plenty of passes, try to draw the opponent into their own half and then counter them.

“I don’t know if this will prepare the Swedes for the [World Cup] play-offs, but that’s what it looked like at West Ham.”

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Tomas Soucek could not believe West Ham were letting Vladimir Coufal go

As for the aforementioned Coufal, his relationship with the former West Ham boss may not be quite so easily repaired.

Now at high-flying Hoffenheim over in Germany, Tomas Soucek was stunned when he heard that his close friend and long-time teammate had been told that his contract would not be renewed.

“After I received the news from Potter, I went to the sauna with Tomas, and he asked me what happened,” Coufal told The Athletic in November. “I said, ‘I’m leaving, bro’. He couldn’t believe it.

“But we made a promise to win the next game. Me and Tomas always wanted to win at Old Trafford, and we did it.”