AdminWest Ham United are beginning to see why they made Arne Engels their record signing of the summer, with the midfielder quickly becoming an important figure under Nuno Espirito Santo.
The Hammers paid £22million to bring Engels from Celtic, making the 23-year-old the club’s biggest investment during the transfer window. With Mateus Fernandes leaving, strengthening midfield was always going to be a priority.
Engels has already started all seven league matches he has featured in, contributing two assists in wins over Bolton and Wolves. His ability to carry the ball from deep, drive forward and create opportunities has added another dimension to West Ham’s midfield.
Former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill has admitted the Scottish giants have missed Engels since his departure.
O’Neill said, as quoted by the Daily Record: “I think that in an ideal world it would have been greater to have the likes of Engels and that type of running power, and that’s really what we were trying to do when we knew that Arne was going to leave.
“Arne, I always felt he was going to be leaving anyway. Trying to get a like-for-like, we looked at a number of players who could do that.
“For one reason or another, it didn’t materialise. So yeah, he’s been a loss in terms of that running power he can give you.”
Engels struggled initially against Millwall, but still completed 100 per cent of his dribbles and won 67 per cent of his ground duels in the 2-2 draw.
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