New West Ham signing rejected huge £15m move just months ago | OneFootball

Edvin Austbo's move to the London Stadium has generated plenty of intrigue

West Ham United have endured a mixed return to the Championship for the first time in 14 years, and following the closure of the summer transfer window, supporters at the London Stadium will be hoping more consistency is shown from Nuno Espírito Santo's side.

The Hammers had been pinpointed as the Championship's pre-season title favourites due to the Portuguese's prior experience of winning the division, as well as the strength of the squad in E20 in comparison to many divisional rivals.

However, it has taken the East London side four games to register their first victory, which came in the 4-2 success over fellow newly-relegated side, Wolves.

The transfer window was also one of extremely mixed fortunes for the Irons as whilst they, expectedly, lost the services of Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville for hefty fees, despite being able to retain Jarrod Bowen's services, a total of nine new signings were added to Nuno's squad.

That includes EFL record buy, Arne Engels from Celtic, but in recent days, plenty of excitement has been generated over the signing of 21-year-old Edvin Austbo from UEFA Champions League side, Viking FK.

The Scandinavian market has started to be taken far more seriously in recent times, and as a result, West Ham will hope they have unearthed a serious gem who hasn't been short of recent transfer interest.

West Ham's exciting late swoop for Viking FK's Edvin Austbo

Action Images

Whilst many of West Ham's new signings do provide experience or recent Championship pedigree, Austbo does not fall into either category, but that doesn't take away from the excitement which has been generated by his addition.

At 21 years of age, the left-winger has shone for Norway at youth level, and will soon be hoping to earn his spot in the senior squad for this season's World Cup quarter-finalists.

Those are feats which, perhaps, are not a million miles away if the left-winger can translate his prior form in the Eliteserien into the Championship, although it remains to be seen how much initial gametime he will be afforded after playing the final 11 minutes against Wolves.

However, there is plenty of room to grow for the €12.9m acquisition, as he put pen-to-paper on a four-year contract.

West Ham may have landed a coup with lesser Edvin Austbo, Viking FK transfer agreement

Action Images

The aforementioned agreement is one which West Ham fans will hope proves to be a bargain, especially when assessing Austbo's track record at such a young age.

After scoring 13 times in 39 appearances for Viking's 'II' side, the Norwegian then went on to score 18 times and provide a further 13 assists, and with his former employers competing in this season's Champions League, it was no surprise that one of the key reasons behind such feats has been in-demand for some time.

Ligue 1 side, LOSC Lille, saw a bid in the region of what Viking accepted from West Ham rejected in January, before an approximate £15m bid from Trabzonspor was accepted.

However, that only adds further substance to the winger's character.

Edvin Austbo assessed his future career prospects whilst rejecting Trabzonspor move

Action Images

Whilst for some, the temptation of moving across Europe to a division such as the Turkish Süper Lig, which has also enhanced its reputation in recent seasons, would clearly be there.

Clearly, the Istanbul side struck a deal which was too good to refuse from Viking's perspective, but that wasn't exactly how Austbo saw it.

Indeed, the wide player would be competing against the duo of Noah Savolio and Metehan Miramoglu for a starting berth on the left-flank, and, as such, Austbo rejected the offer despite the financial package which was put on the table.

West Ham fans will have loved Edvin Austbo's comments before Viking transfer was sealed

Action Images

Even prior to the confirmation of his move on August 31st, Austbo would have endeared himself to supporters in East London regarding his desire for a move to the London Stadium.

After an initial bid was rebuffed, he said: “I’m aware of pretty much everything. It’s hard to avoid. If Viking and an interested club reach an agreement, I’ll have to take a stance on it. So far, that hasn’t happened.

“I don’t know how big their bid was, or how much Viking are asking for, but West Ham is a cool club and are certainly of interest to me.”