A player by player Analysis of West Ham’s summer signings

It’s no secret that this transfer window has been, in the words of David Gold, ‘one of the best windows in the history of the club’.

With a rather impressive nine additions made over the summer, the West Ham squad is far more impressive than it was at this stage last year.

From Mauro Zarate to Morgan Amalfitano, the new acquisitions all have the potential to get into the first team and ultimately improve it, allowing us to finish further up the table this season.

With the only noticeable absentee leaving in the form of Mo Diame to Hull City, it certainly shows a shift in the club’s ethos which the two Davids have wanted to implement since taking over the club.

Click on Gold and Sullivan to reveal

Mauro Zarate- Free transfer from Velez Sarsfield

The Argentine had an excellent season in his home country, scoring an impressive 19 goals in 2013/14 for Velez Sarsfield. At first, rumours circulated that Sam Allardyce was not actually interested in obtaining the services of the Argentinian and that the owners themselves had chosen to sign the player in a hope to bring more attractive, attacking football to Upton Park.

However, Zarate was introduced into the starting eleven very quickly due to the injury to club captain Kevin Nolan. His impact has been immediate, scoring a sublime volley against Crystal Palace in West Ham’s 3-1 win at Selhurst Park.

Zarate is the sort of player West Ham have been missing for many years, he shows a willingness to turn and run at opposing defences. His ability to find space is also something that makes us more of an attacking threat in the final third. With a player showcasing pace and excellent dribbling, West Ham can finally have a player who will link up with a bigger striker up front.

It will be interesting to see how he plays with Andy Carroll once he returns from injury. It is early days at the moment but Mauro Zarate looks like he could be a great success story for the club this season. Having purchased him for nothing, it was a clever signing by the club, using our broad South American network wisely this time.

Cheikou Kouyate- £7m from Anderlecht

It took a while for West Ham to secure the services of the Senegal international due to the interest from La Liga in the form of Valencia. They were prepared to pay big money which I thought would ultimately rule us out of making a move for the big midfielder. However, we matched the offer put forward by them and it was Kouyate’s ambition to play in the Premier League that helped him become a West ham player.

Many West Ham fans would not have heard of the Senegalese man before we were interested in signing him. What was encouraging was his versatility, he could play in centre midfield as well as centre back. Kouyate also had a number of Champions League appearances under his belt due to Anderlecht’s involvement in the competition.

Eventually, West Ham secured Kouyate’s services for £7 million and it looks like a bargain already. In his short time at West Ham, the fans have witnessed his remarkable fitness levels that he showcased in every game so far. He is also very economical with the ball, rarely losing it in midfield and being very strong in the tackle.

It wouldn’t surprise me if we were fending off interest from the top four clubs in the near future, he looks that good.

Aaron Cresswell – Undisclosed from Ipswich

The young full-back signed from Ipswich Town was a pivotal signing for the Hammers as we desperately needed to sign a left back due to McCartney’s release.

Cresswell made it into the Championship team of the year in the previous campaign and the fans are already seeing glimpses of his talent that could make him a success in England’s top league. Although the fee for the player was undisclosed, it is believed that the figure did not exceed the £4 million mark.

Cresswell is blessed with a lot of pace and is capable of delivering testing balls into the box with his left foot. It will be interesting to see if we can get a partnership between a winger and Cresswell on the left side of the pitch. So far, we have seen Ricardo Vaz Te play in front of Cresswell and the threat has been quite minimal.

However, with the new addition of Morgan Amalfitano and Matt Jarvis returning from injury, we could see a more prominent force occurring on the left hand side.

Diego Poyet- Free transfer from Charlton Athletic

The son of Sunderland manager Gus, Diego Poyet is definitely one for the future. Having said this, I see no reason as to why Diego Poyet could not comfortably slot into the starting eleven if we were to be hit by an injury crisis in midfield.

It was exceptionally good business bringing Poyet in on a free transfer, he settled in well with the team despite a number of controversial tweets he made as a teenager, but we won’t go there anymore.
A player who seems well ahead of his years, Poyet likes to get the ball down and play a pass, acting as the metronome who lies deep in the midfield.

It was a shame that West Ham exited the Capital One cup as early as they did because Poyet’s first team opportunities could now be limited due to the strength in depth in our midfield. Having said that, the kid is only 19 and has a lot of potential so it was a very smart signing made by Allardyce.

Carl Jenkinson- On loan from Arsenal

A lot of fans would have known about Jenkinson before he signed for West Ham. He featured regularly for Arsenal last season in all competitions and judging by Arsenal’s transfer business, it was a strange decision to let him leave the club on loan. Having said this, Arsenal’s loss is clearly West Ham’s gain as a right back was needed to replace the ageing Guy Demel.

Similarly to Cresswell, Jenkinson is not afraid of getting forward and delivering balls into the box. Although he is clearly an attacking full back, his defending has improved dramatically since he was sent off on his Premier League debut against Manchester United in that 8-2 defeat in 2011.

The prospect of Jenkinson linking up with Stuart Downing on the right hand side could be an encouraging one. Downing’s tendency to cut inside will leave more room for Jenkinson to attack the space, causing more issues for the opposition’s defence.

Again, Jenkinson looks like an intelligent acquisition, all he needs to do now is get match fit.

Enner Valencia- £12m from Pachuca

West Ham’s previous ‘World Cup star’ signing was Pablo Barrera and we all know how that turned out. However, the owners stated that they had been tracking Valencia long before the Ecuadorian scored 3 goals in as many matches for Ecuador at the World Cup.

To be fair to our new 12 million pound man, he did notch up 18 goals last season for Pachuca in the Mexican league. However, as well all know, it may take a bit of time for Valencia to adjust to the pace of the Premier League.

So far, the Ecuadorian has made a string of substitute appearances in the league whilst also starting in the Capital One cup tie against Sheffield United. In that game, he missed a couple of chances as well as missing his penalty in the shoot-out that we eventually lost.

Although it hasn’t been the greatest start, Valencia does have a lot of pace and looks like he would benefit with playing alongside a fellow strike partner. Out of all our summer business, this was definitely the biggest gamble due to the amount of money we paid for the 24 year old.

However, Allardyce believes that the forward may need time to adapt so the best of Valencia is yet to come.

Diafra Sakho- £3.5m from Metz

We were very close to pulling the plug on this deal due to our pursuit of Connor Wickham.

Apparently, Sakho was so gutted at the prospect of not signing for us that he cried at the impending collapse of the transfer. Our negotiations with Metz upset them too and the French club threatened to report us after we tried to change the deal from a permanent transfer to a loan with a view to buy option. Things were getting rather heated until we eventually agreed on a permanent transfer for a fee rumoured to be around the £3.5 million mark.

Since then, Sakho has looked rather lively up front. When he came on against Palace, he had a good header saved by Speroni and put in a great deal of effort, sparking comparisons with another Senegalese hitman, Demba Ba. His goal against Sheffield United was very well taken and it looks like he has brought his scoring touch from Ligue 2 over to England.

Hopefully he can settle into Premier League football quickly as West Ham need a goalscorer pronto.

Alex Song- On loan from Barcelona

I still have to pinch myself every time I’m reminded that Alex Song actually signed for West Ham. This is without doubt the deal of our summer and one of the coups of the entire Premier League transfer window. Signed on loan from Spanish giants Barcelona, Song brings with him a fantastic array of passing with good tackling that will allow him to set up promising attacks.

He was a star performer for Arsenal back in the 2011-12 season and rightfully earned his move to the Spanish champions. Since then, his development may have waned a little bit but there is no doubt that we have one hell of a player on our hands here. He is expected to start alongside Mark Noble which will hopefully allow Kouyate to adopt more of a free role, a position I would expect the Senegalese man to relish.

Despite a number of fans saying it was a pointless signing due to the amount of midfielders we have, you can’t argue with the fact that Song brings exceptional quality to the starting eleven and will prove to be a valuable addition over the course of this season.

Morgan Amalfitano- £800k from Marseille

This deal was waiting to happen for the entire transfer window. There were reports that the French winger boycotted training with Marseille in order to force through a move to West Ham but then things suddenly went a bit quiet. However, come transfer deadline day, the move suddenly shot back into life and before we knew it, Amalfitano was on his way to London to sign for West Ham.

His debut Premier League season for West Brom was an impressive one, including fantastic efforts against Manchester United and Cardiff City.

However, a number of West Brom fans claimed that despite his erratic brilliance, there were times last season when he was painfully lazy. Having said that, he did create more chances than any other West Brom player last season and his assist record over his career is rather impressive, he managed to notch up 16 assists in a single season whist playing for Lorient in Ligue 1.

Hopefully Amalfitano aims for more consistent brilliance this year. For as little as £800,000, the signing of another winger with the ability to produce the spectacular seems like sensible business, rounding off a rather brilliant transfer window for West Ham.