West Ham backed to make 'statement of intent' Man City transfer | OneFootball

FLW's West Ham fan pundit has backed his club to sign Manchester City loanee Divine Mukasa permanently after a bright start

West Ham United are officially up and running in the EFL Championship, as the Hammers, after a slow start to life upon their return to the second tier, have seemingly clicked into gear and look to make good on their pre-season expectations.

Having failed to win any of their opening three league games against Burnley, Charlton Athletic, or Watford, question marks quickly began to surround West Ham, who, upon their relegation from the Premier League, were widely regarded as one of the heavy favourites to go straight back up automatically during pre-season.

However, head coach Nuno Espírito Santo has seemingly quickly put to bed any notion that the Hammers will struggle this year, winning all four of their following league games against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Derby County, Bolton Wanderers, and Wrexham, scoring 16 goals across those fixtures.

Their summer window didn't really get up and running until the latter stages of it, but a handful of their signings look well worth the wait, including Manchester City loanee Divine Mukasa.

West Ham United signed Divine Mukasa on loan from Manchester City as part of their summer haul

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Mukasa, 19, came through the ranks of West Ham, having trained at the club since the age of six, but joined Manchester City in 2023 to continue his development in the North West.

Six first-team appearances for the Citizens have followed, much to his incredibly high potential, as well as a loan spell with Leicester City in the second tier last campaign; now, Mukasa has returned to his boyhood club on loan to make his mark in the first team.

Joining the club alongside the likes of Joel Piroe, Manor Solomon, Edvin Austbo, and Arne Engels, Mukasa has scored two in his first six games for the Hammers, both against Wolves, with one of those being a thunderbolt, and it would be fair to suggest he has made a positive impact.

Football League World's West Ham United fan pundit backs the Hammers to sign Divine Mukasa as 'plan for the future'

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Football League World's West Ham fan pundit, Ryan Horn, has shared their thoughts on the potential permanent addition of Mukasa, and whether that would be something the club should already be thinking about.

Ryan said: "One hundred per cent. If he keeps performing like this, bring him back.

"I hate falling in love with loan players like Lingard and Disasi. I hate it because we're terrible at trying to sign them permanently. I always say don't fall in love with a lone player after Lingard. And then I fell in love with Disasi, and he's broken my heart by going to Palace.

"But yeah, if Mukasa really keeps us up, I'd love it if we could try and get him permanently. I think that's easier to do because of his age than it was with Lingard and Disasi. But it also depends on the structure of the club with the board and how we do for the rest of the Championship.

"He'll want to be part of a big project going forward and to have a squad sort of built around him. If he keeps up the form he has been in, he is one for the future. You know, Bowen's only got a few years left. Well, you never know, really, but he has; he's come up to 30. It would be nice if we actually started thinking a bit ahead in the long term.

"Austbo's young; he's got years left. Scarles is developing quite well. Engels is young, very young, and he'll be brilliant. Having that sort of spine to build around and having these experienced players like Bowen, Soucek, Veltman, Areola, and even Mavropanos and Taty, then just help gel them in and build what we've been promised for so long since moving to the stadium: a club fighting for Europe, like we were with Moyes.

"But we never sort of had a long-term future, signings-wise. So having that, if we got Mukasa, that would be a statement of intent that, yeah, there is a plan. We're not just thinking season to season. There is a plan for the future. We are going to try to achieve it."

Nuno Espírito Santo should be plotting a permanent Divine Mukasa West Ham United addition after an excellent start

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After having such a promising start to life back in East London, it would be a surprise if Nuno wasn't already weighing up the potential permanent addition of Mukasa next summer.

However, given how highly-rated the 19-year-old is by Man City, he wouldn't come cheap, as their hopes of securing a deal for the attacking-midfielder almost certainly rest on whether they can earn an immediate return to the Premier League or not.