Trying to cut through the fog of West Ham’s summer recruitment, it’s clear that somebody, somewhere, got something right.
With credit for transfers being passed around like a game of pass the parcel, it’s increasingly difficult to know who actually deserves praise. If you strip everything back, though, one name keeps emerging: Max Hahn — the club’s scout/data analyst who reports directly to David Sullivan.
Hahn is highly regarded at West Ham, and not a transfer goes through without him giving his opinion. Sources both inside and outside the club have made it clear he is an influential figure. The problem? It’s still unclear which signings he is truly responsible for.
Meanwhile, former head of recruitment — and Graham Potter’s trusted right-hand man — Kyle Macaulay seems to have been stripped of all credit in hindsight. Convenient, isn’t it? Suddenly Macaulay appears useless and Sullivan is painted as the mastermind behind the window. The retroactive narrative feels a bit too neat.
Mystery surrounds who Kyle MaCaulay signed
Whoever Did It, They Got It Right
Why does this matter? Because last summer’s business looks — whisper it — good.
Mateus Fernandes, Soungoutou Magassa and El Hadji Malick Diouf have all been excellent additions. At ages 20 and 21, these signings are distinctly un-West Ham-like — progressive, sellable assets who have arguably already increased in value.
Which presents the puzzle…
I’m confident Sullivan spearheaded the signings of Callum Wilson and Kyle Walker-Peters, but putting those aside, who identified the younger players?
It was either Hahn or Macaulay.
If it was Macaulay, it’s bad news long term — because it would mean West Ham paid Chelsea £1m in compensation only to let him stroll straight into the arms of Manchester United after getting everything right.
If it was Hahn, though, then maybe West Ham do stand a chance of unearthing the young striker they desperately need to escape relegation.
Time will tell — but if more 21-year-olds continue arriving at the London Stadium, we’ll have our answer.
As it is data driven, on the presumption the data is from the same source or at least very similar it may well be that Macaulay identified and Hahn agreed.
However, as you say Gonzo, the issue is whether Hahn is both able to identify a player and to convince Sully that the player is one to go for.
For our sake let’s hope Macaulay was useless but given Chelsea kept him on after sacking Potter and Man U have picked him up as soon as we’ve let him go I suspect Macaulay knows what he is doing.
Hopefully Hahn does as well!!
I don’t think it matters too much as long as they keep making mostly good decisions.
Diouf seems to have gone a bit off the boil recently crosses haven’t been great and teams are targeting him defensively because he seems to have a problem reacting to players with fast feet feinting outside with the body then chopping inside.
Despite that a great signing with a brilliant attitude.
Lets hope whoever is picking targets can find us some attackers.
Going to need a few players in January – age is important but obviously so is experience and quality. In this window we need players who can hit the ground running, we’re too deep in the s**t to have inexperienced players to “blood” in.
Also, no players with half a leg missing, please – need to be on the park making a difference.