West Ham get £35m bargain as Edson Alvarez proves instant hit succeeding Declan Rice
David Moyes made clear at the start of the transfer window that he wanted to bring more proven Premier League talent to West Ham this summer after the difficulty several overseas signings had bedding in last year.
On the face of it, then, the Hammers’s business did not fit the brief, James Ward-Prowse the only player signed with significant experience of English football.
In Edson Alvarez, however, the Irons appear to have nabbed the next best thing. Rather like Joao Palhinha following his switch from Sporting to Fulham at 12 months ago, Alvarez has immediately looked a player tailor-made for the Premier League and the £35million fee paid to Ajax a potential snip.
Moyes is typically cautious in easing new signings into his side, but even had Tomas Soucek not been ruled out with concussion one suspects the Scot would have been happy enough to throw his new Mexican machine straight into a testing environment at Luton on Friday night.
Along with Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen, the 25-year-old was outstanding in the 2-1 win at Kenilworth Road that briefly took Moyes’s side to the top of the table and even now has them spending the first international break inside the top four.
Declan Rice may have ultimately provided the weekend’s headline, but his successor has quietly made an excellent start.