One of the more relieved senior executives at West Ham after his July appointment was no doubt breathing a quiet sigh of relief yesterday, as Nuno’s West Ham team took their weekly points tally to six largely thanks to the new arrivals from the transfer window.
Nils Koppen, fresh from FC Copenhagen, arrived at West Ham with no current knowledge of the English leagues and set about the daunting task of ‘reallocating’ a huge swathe of ex-Premier League talent, whilst at the same time finding new players for Nuno on a changing, diminishing transfer budget.
Who’d have had his job this summer: Nils Koppen had to oversee the dismantling and rebuilding of West Ham’s squad on a relative shoestring budget
And it looks, on first impressions, as if he’s done a pretty decent job of it.
Forget, just for a second, the mammoth task of finding clubs willing to take Fullkrug, Wan Bissaka , Todibo et al. Almost every player sold by West Ham this summer – apart from James Ward-Prowse– was at a big profit: No mean feat for this club which banked £200 million from their departures.
And on first showings, several of the ‘arrivals’ have already proved themselves decent additions.
Joel Piroe, on loan from Leeds with an option to buy only kicking in should the Hammers secure promotion, grabbed his second goal since arriving – which is more than some of West Ham’s less illustrious imported strikers managed in their first season.
Arne Engels, very much West Ham’s ‘statement’ signing, breaking the Championship fee record by a mile, created West Ham’s second goal with an intelligent run down the right flank. In addition the young Belgian put in several crunching defensive tackles, winning some viewers’ nomination for an unofficial Irons’ man of the match.
Edwin Austvø looks an enthusiastic, willing runner and energetic forward who was very much a signing from Koppen’s little black book. A goal on his second start is a pretty solid validation of the £12 million reportedly that West Ham forked out late on: Considering Nuno’s choice was Reiss Nelson, Koppen deserves a nod of recognition for Austvø alone.
And Joel Veltman – a free signing – looks to have forced Kyle Walker Peters into second choice at right back, the veteran now in possession of the starting spot for as many games as his legs will allow.
One swallow (or two wins, to be precise) doesn’t make a summer but on first showings, this handful of Koppen’s picks look to be well capable of doing the job. Credit where it’s due, after that chaotic boardroom shenanigans that whipped away most of the transfer budget, West Ham’s window looks as if it might just have produced a decent outcome.