Nuno Espírito Santo has today confirmed exactly what Claret & Hugh revealed earlier this week: new signing Keiber Lamadrid is not ready for immediate first-team involvement.
A top London Stadium source previously informed us that the 22-year-old Venezuelan “won’t be ready until next season” and that Lamadrid is set to join West Ham United’s development squad.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash against Sunderland, Nuno was asked about his newly announced signing.
“He is a young player, but he is in pre-season and only finished his season at the end of last year,” Nuno said at his pre-match press conference.
“He is not really ready to play. We will assess him and see.”
Nuno added:
“The club make signings for the future, but we need to rebalance the squad for now.”
A Signing for Tomorrow, Not Today
Those comments were as close to an admission as we are likely to get that Lamadrid is not a manager-led signing. The transfer has already been described internally as a ‘gift’ from chairman David Sullivan, who sanctioned the move on an initial loan with a €1m option to buy.
For now, Lamadrid’s role appears clear: development rather than deployment. And while the price tag makes it a low-risk punt, it does little to help Nuno in the here and now as West Ham continue their fight for Premier League survival.
Keiber……PASS!
Will be the shout no doubt 🤷🏻♂️
Does little to help Nuno, but not a hindrance.
The present focus should rather be on adding players that can effectively help in the final effort to avoid relegation!
Another very strange signing,presumably looking ahead when relegation happens and Bowen and Summerville are sold!!
Like he said we need players now.