West Ham Online

"West Ham United is delighted to announce the signing of Mexico international Edson ?Ålvarez. The 25-year-old has joined the Hammers on a permanent contract until June 2028 for an undisclosed fee, after the Club fought off strong competition from other top European clubs to bring him to London Stadium. A strong and versatile midfielder, ?Ålvarez moves to English football from Dutch club Ajax, where he won two Eredivisie titles, and less than a month after winning his second CONCACAF Gold Cup with Mexico. Capped 69 times by his country, ?Ålvarez has extensive European experience with Ajax and is now looking forward to playing Premier League and UEFA Europa League football with West Ham. ‚ÄúI am very happy and very proud to be here,‚Äù said ?Ålvarez, who speaks fluent English after learning the language during his four-year stay in Amsterdam. ‚ÄúBeing here in London and seeing London Stadium, it‚Äôs amazing. I can‚Äôt wait to play here in front of the West Ham fans. ‚ÄúIt‚Äôs a hugely sentimental moment for me in my career. To join a club like a West Ham is a dream for me and my family. ‚ÄúThe Premier League is a special league, the best league in the world and I think my style will suit it. I now have a responsibility to West Ham and the West Ham family and I will give absolutely everything for the shirt.‚Äù Manager David Moyes is looking forward to working with a player who ranked first in ball carry distance and second in pass attempts in the Eredivisie last season. ‚ÄúWe‚Äôre really pleased to add Edson to our squad,‚Äù he said. ‚ÄúThe midfield area was one we were especially keen to strengthen this summer ‚Äì and Edson will complement the other options we have in that department. ‚ÄúHe‚Äôs an experienced international player, who has enjoyed great success for both club and country during his career to date. ‚ÄúWe‚Äôre excited about welcoming to West Ham and seeing him play his part in English and European competition for the Club.‚Äù ?Ålvarez will wear the 19 shirt at West Ham United."

"Imo you can't leave out Alvarez or Paqueta, and shifting Paqueta wide left negates his ability to influence the game. So for me you have a straight choice between JWP and Soucek. There were points last night when I thought Soucek could have been an advantage over JWP in certain situations. If we had much more dynamic.fullbacks, we could conceive of a 4-4-2 diamond...but with Coufal at RB and Emerson at LB, there isn't really enough pace there to play narrow centrally in that way. But agree...Vs City Paqueta will blatantly be back wide left with Benny dropped in order to make space for Soucek."

"I can now see why he's so popular with the mexican fans, the bloke gives his all and loves playing in that position. he was on a par with zouma last night as our best player. I'm not shocked the jock dinosaur shoehorns soucek in to the conversation even when he's not played. he's his pet, his latest version of felaini. that will be the thing that unbalanced the side, but he can't help himself"

"So Alvarez and JWP were excellent but we missed Soucek ffs, where does he fit in, in place of an attacking player..."

"Jesus wept, I totally despair. Against City you know he will leave out Benny and go full Moyseball."

"He's at least a bit demented, Moyes, isn't he."

"""What is very very clear is we don‚Äôt need Soucek in the side when he is fit."" I agree but Moyes said a couple of times last night that he thought we missed Soucek: ‚ÄúI thought the midfield was fantastic and it was difficult because we missed Soucek today but James and Alvarez were class.‚Äù ""You have to deal with the balls up and the knock-downs and I think we missed Tom?°?° Souƒçek for his stature. From that point of view, as the game went on we were struggling a little bit more."""

He's impressive though let's see what kind of impression he has made on Moyes when Soucek is deemed fit to start.

"Looks a smashing player, proper DM, senses danger so well. The way he closes people down he seems so big and wide, just smothers people off the ball?üòÇ"

"Looks a player. Importantly, looks happy to be here."

"I noticed at the end of the game on the pitch Moyes having words with him and they looked very complimentary, no chance he leaves him out now, I reckon Moyes loves him."

"An Ajax fan said the amount of times there would be goal mouth Scramble and he would just stride out of it with the ball as cool as a cucumber, looks a great player."

"What is very very clear is we don’t need Soucek in the side when he is fit. He is a much better player all round, even in the air. Hopefully Moyes saw the same. Won’t hold my breath though"

Looked very assured. Will adapt to the Premier League quickly. Rarely loses the ball. Good passing and gets it out of his feet quickly. Refreshing.

"Agree Manuel. What I like about this guy is he knows what his job is in the side, and relishes it. Bloke's a pure destroyer...but on top of that has quick feet, shifts the ball well, and clearly feels comfortable when he finds himself higher up the pitch trading passes with the more offensive players. Looks at this point a top drawer signing, and if he keeps it up we probably won't have him for more than a season or two (if we're being realistic)."

He is pure class. Always has more time than everyone else. Calm on the ball. Quick feet. Spots danger. His movement and angles reminded me of carrick.

"Looks like a proper no fuss signing, but what's with the childish Rice comparisons, I don't expect much from him going forward, which is why it was said from the off that we needed 2 players to replace Rice."

I’ve a Dutch friend who supports Ajax. He put it like this. Alvarez is better than Rice at covering the back four but won’t give as much going forward. Seems he’s right. He’s not such a fan of Kudus though.

I’ve a Dutch friend who supports Ajax. He put it like this. Alvarez is better than Rice at covering the back four but won’t give as much going forward. Seems he’s right. He’s not such a fan of Kudus though.

He's not Declan Rice. He just does what he needs to. Declan wanted/was always being told to do other things beyond being a defensive midfielder. The first goal came because on the edge of the area he just gave it to the creative player.

DECLAN x2 isn’t he? What a player

"Good debute Needs to improve fitness, passing forward and attacking runs. Going to be a good Rice replacement"

"Thought he was excellent. Commanding, organising the midfield in front of him, always sniffing out the danger. The Brighton goal was a bit down to him, but Zouma actually signalled for him the change about 5 mins before...he was dead on his feet with legs of lead at that point so no real blame. Looks a fantastic signing...doing all the bits of Rice's game that were actually meaningful to us, and the flashy ball carrying bits that didn't actually achieve very much most of the time seem improved on by JWPs.ability to quarterback a meaningful forward pass. Plus Alvarez has a tough disposition about him...but of a winners mentality. Good stuff EdSON."

"I like him and only going to get better, still a little unsure at times but that's just a matter of getting to know his new teammates. Cant say he was fully at fault for the Brighton goal, but he did seem a tad out of position and back a bit further than he should have been, he then had a lunge at the ball, then Brighton player (name escapes me) just stepped to one side and smacked it into the corner. Maybe a weird thing to say but i hope the injury to Soucek keeps him out for a game or 2 as with Aguerd back i reckon it will be Alverez he drops, we also looked better when Soucek went off but im not sure Moyes would agree!!!!"

"What are WHOer's thoughts after a game and a bit on this fella? Very early still of course, but so far so good for me, but how good could he be, or otherwise, strengths and possible weaknesses etc? A shoe in for the first eleven?"

So downs will be back on the bench as soucek won't be benched