West Ham United’s extraordinary summer rebuild is complete, with nine arrivals, around £200million generated from four headline sales and a squad that now looks considerably better equipped to challenge for promotion.
Morato appeared to be the final addition when he joined Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan on Deadline Day, but there was another late twist.
Athletic Club confirmed on Wednesday morning that Adama Boiro has joined West Ham on loan until the end of the season, with the Hammers holding an option to buy. The Spanish club said the 24-year-old was already in London after an agreement was reached between the clubs.
Boiro becomes the ninth addition to Nuno Espírito Santo’s rebuilt squad after Keiber Lamadrid, Joël Veltman, Manor Solomon, Arne Engels, Joël Piroe, Divine Mukasa, Edvin Austbø and Morato.
That is significant because left-back had looked like the obvious weakness remaining after Malick Diouf’s departure to Brentford.
West Ham have rebuilt extensively following relegation.
Whether those nine additions can turn one of the Championship’s most expensive squads into a promotion-winning team is now the real question.
West Ham’s nine summer signings
Nuno’s final group of arrivals contains a clear mixture of Championship experience, younger upside and relatively low financial risk.
| Player | From | Deal |
|---|---|---|
| Keiber Lamadrid | Deportivo La Guaira | Permanent, around £1m reported |
| Joël Veltman | Brighton | Free transfer |
| Manor Solomon | Tottenham | £5m plus £2m add-ons |
| Arne Engels | Celtic | £22m |
| Joël Piroe | Leeds United | Loan with obligation to buy |
| Divine Mukasa | Manchester City | Season-long loan |
| Edvin Austbø | Viking | Permanent, around £10m reported |
| Morato | Nottingham Forest | Season-long loan |
| Adama Boiro | Athletic Club | Season-long loan with option to buy |
West Ham confirmed Piroe as the fifth arrival and revealed his loan contains an obligation to make the move permanent next summer. The striker arrived with 73 Championship goals across four seasons, including 19 as Leeds won promotion in 2024/25.
Boiro’s arrival is important because it gives Nuno another natural option on the left after West Ham sold Diouf late in the window. The deal was left extremely late, but the club ultimately solved the position rather than entering September with Ollie Scarles carrying the role almost alone.
That is smart recruitment for the immediate problem.
Solomon also knows how to win promotion from this division, while Veltman provides significant top-flight experience without a transfer fee.
Engels is the biggest permanent investment at a reported £22m. At 22, the Belgium international offers both immediate quality and potential resale value if West Ham return to the Premier League. Our analysis of Engels’ arrival explained why West Ham were willing to make him the centrepiece of the midfield rebuild.
Mukasa may prove to be one of the cleverest deals of all.
The Manchester City loanee scored twice in Tuesday’s 4-2 victory over Wolves, immediately demonstrating why West Ham were willing to bring the former Academy of Football youngster back to east London.
£200m of sales changed everything
West Ham’s rebuild cannot be judged without looking at what disappeared.
Fernandes joined Tottenham for £85m, while Summerville’s move to Al Hilal was agreed in a package potentially worth £65m. Potts left for Club Brugge for around £10m and Diouf completed a transfer to Brentford worth up to £40m.
Those four packages alone reach approximately £200m.
West Ham have therefore lost some serious talent.
Fernandes was one of the team’s most valuable midfielders. Summerville carried individual attacking threat. Diouf had registered five assists during his first season in England, while Potts looked naturally suited to a Championship campaign.
The club deserves credit for extracting major value following relegation.
But generating a huge transfer surplus is not itself a footballing achievement.
Promotion is.
The real question is whether enough of that outgoing quality has been replaced.
Nuno now has genuine attacking depth
This is where the window looks strongest.
Nuno can choose from Jarrod Bowen, Solomon, Piroe, Taty Castellanos, Pablo, Mukasa, Austbø and Lamadrid across his attacking positions.
Piroe gives West Ham proven Championship goals. Solomon can create from wide areas. Austbø represents an exciting long-term bet after helping Viking reach the Champions League league phase before his move.
Then there is Mukasa.
His performance against Wolves provided an early glimpse of the upside contained in this squad.
West Ham have not simply bought older Championship specialists to survive one season in the second tier. There has clearly been an attempt to find players who could remain useful if promotion is secured.
That approach deserves credit.
Supporters can now see the final first-team picture on our permanently updated West Ham squad page, which should become increasingly useful as Nuno settles on his preferred combinations.
Keeping Álvarez and Magassa could prove important
Two deals that didn’t happen may also matter.
Edson Álvarez and Soungoutou Magassa were both left out against Wolves amid uncertainty around their futures.
However, Jacob Steinberg reported that West Ham’s financial demands were expected to keep Álvarez at the club, while the Hammers also wanted Magassa to remain after rejecting approaches.
West Ham had blocked Magassa from leaving despite Crystal Palace interest earlier on Deadline Day.
Neither player’s situation is straightforward.
Álvarez has barely featured in the league and Magassa wanted greater opportunities elsewhere.
But a 46-game Championship campaign requires depth.
If Nuno can reintegrate both, retaining them leaves West Ham considerably stronger than sanctioning late exits without replacements.
West Ham eventually solve their biggest squad problem
West Ham’s pursuit of a left-back became one of the more chaotic parts of their transfer window.
Diouf was sold to Brentford for a package worth up to £40million, leaving Scarles as Nuno’s primary natural option on the left.
The Hammers subsequently explored several alternatives.
Melvin Bard chose Leeds United, while West Ham also made a move for Roma defender Anass Salah-Eddine.
Boiro then emerged as the preferred option during the final hours of Deadline Day, with West Ham pushing to complete a deal for the Athletic Club defender.
For several hours after the deadline it appeared the position might have been left unresolved.
That changed on Wednesday morning.
Athletic officially confirmed an agreement for Boiro to spend the season at West Ham, with an option included for the Hammers to buy him permanently.
It means West Ham did eventually replace Diouf with another specialist left-back.
The criticism therefore shifts.
The problem is no longer that West Ham failed to address the position. It is that such an obvious squad requirement was allowed to run until the very end of the window.
But ultimately, getting the player matters more than when the paperwork was completed.
Boiro and Scarles now give Nuno two natural options on the left, while Kyle Walker-Peters provides further flexibility if required.
That makes the final squad noticeably better balanced than it appeared when the deadline passed on Tuesday night.
Our permanently updated West Ham squad page contains Nuno’s current first-team options following the summer rebuild.
Has West Ham built a promotion-winning squad?
Yes, potentially. But it should have been more complete.
The first four league games have already demonstrated how demanding the Championship will be.
West Ham drew with Burnley, lost to Charlton, were held at Watford and then finally broke through with Tuesday’s 4-2 victory over Wolves.
Our West Ham fixtures and results page will track that promotion campaign throughout the season, with Derby County next at London Stadium on Saturday.
Nuno now has more attacking options, better midfield variety and enough centre-back depth to rotate.
There is also a genuinely exciting younger core.
Engels is 22. Austbø is 21. Mukasa is 19. Academy players including Lewis Orford, Airidas Golambeckis, Ezra Mayers and Joshua Ajala have already received senior opportunities.
That gives the rebuild considerably more upside than simply collecting experienced names for one Championship season.
But West Ham have also banked enormous fees after relegation.
The standard therefore has to be higher than “good enough for the Championship.”
The squad should be one of the strongest in the division.
West Ham transfer window verdict
I’d give West Ham’s summer:
7.5/10
There is plenty to like.
West Ham added proven Championship goals through Piroe, creativity through Solomon, significant midfield potential in Engels and exciting younger options including Mukasa, Austbø and Lamadrid.
Morato gives Nuno another experienced centre-back, while Boiro’s late arrival finally addresses the vacancy created by Diouf’s sale.
Keeping Edson Álvarez and Soungoutou Magassa also leaves additional depth available if Nuno can successfully reintegrate both players.
There are still legitimate reservations.
West Ham lost a huge amount of established quality during a summer in which around £200m was generated from the major sales of Mateus Fernandes, Crysencio Summerville, Diouf and Freddie Potts.
The replacement spending has been considerably lower, and several important deals were only resolved extremely late.
There is also uncertainty attached to relying heavily on loan players during a promotion campaign.
But judging the final squad rather than the panic of Deadline Day, West Ham look stronger and better balanced than they did several weeks ago.
Nuno has goals, creativity, Championship experience, promising young players and better defensive coverage.
The squad should be capable of challenging for automatic promotion.
That now has to be the expectation.
