Highlights
- West Ham’s new era focuses on domestic success after missing European football this season.
- Carlos Soler’s dynamic playing style could add a new dimension to West Ham’s midfield.
- Soler, compared to Arsenal’s Odegaard, brings consistent scoring and assisting skills to the team.
Julen Lopetegui has been backed. West Ham United parted ways with David Moyes at the end of the 2023/24 season after his dynasty entered a solemn twilight stage, and now there is fresh hope that success can be found once again.
Two years on from winning the Conference League, West Ham will not play European football for the first time in three seasons, but this at least gives the new era a singular focus on the domestic front.
The Premier League side have employed a free-spending approach this summer, with technical director strengthening across the park, and while improvements have been made, there may yet be another incoming as the window enters the final fortnight…
West Ham eyeing another midfielder
According to the Daily Mail, West Ham have enquired about the availability of Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Carlos Soler as Steidten gears up for a ninth (yes, ninth) signing of the summer.
The experienced Guido Rodriguez has been landed to add some mettle to the engine room but Soler would bring a more dynamic outlook.
The Spaniard is valued at around €20m (£17m) by the Ligue 1 champions, and while the Irons’ spending has hit the £120m mark this summer, this could ice the cake nicely indeed.
What Carlos Soler would bring to West Ham
Soler is a technical footballer with a sharp eye for a pass. His innate understanding of tempo allows him to maximise this ball-playing ability and influence attacking sequences effectively.
|
Carlos Soler: 23/24 Statistical Breakdown |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Statistic |
Per 90 |
Percentile |
|
Goals scored |
0.17 |
Top 13% |
|
Assists made |
0.17 |
Top 19% |
|
Passes attempted |
63.51 |
Top 19% |
|
Progressive passes |
6.10 |
Top 24% |
|
Touches (att pen) |
2.59 |
Top 7% |
|
Stats via FBref (vs midfielders) |
||
He signed for PSG from Valencia for €20m (£17m) in 2022, and while he’s now completed 63 appearances – scoring eight goals and assisting eight more – he’s struggled to secure a starring role in the talent-congested team and would do well to move to an outfit that could see him perform as one of the standouts.
West Ham could offer such a platform. At 27 years old, Soler is in his ostensible prime and must now make good on praise that he is the “complete midfielder”, as said by one-time Valencia player Curro Torres, and showcases his skills in the Premier League.
He has the ability. FBref’s player comparison model even marks Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard as one of his most similar players across Europe’s top five leagues – and we all know how well the Norwegian maestro has done on English soil.
Arsenal have fallen a whisker short against Manchester City in the past two top-flight title challenges, though Mikel Arteta deserves all the plaudits after transforming the Gunners into one of the continent’s elite outfits. Odegaard has been the fulcrum of such success.
Across the past two years, the all-seeing playmaker has posted 26 goals and 18 assists, awarded the club’s Player of the Season for 2023/24 after a magnificent season of the highest influence.
Indeed, as per FBref, he ranks among the top 8% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for goals, the top 3% for assists, the top 1% for shot-creating actions, the top 2% for progressive passes and the top 14% for progressive carries per 90.
Odegaard is clearly operating at a higher level than Soler, but the PSG man’s ability to score and assist with equal consistency speaks of his dynamic attacking skill. Moreover, he’s a progressive passer and that is something that could see him emulate Arsenal’s superstar.
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