Edvin Austbø needed only a handful of West Ham United appearances to show why the Hammers spent around £10million bringing him to London.
The Deadline Day arrival came off the bench in Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Derby County and scored his first West Ham goal to remove any lingering nerves at London Stadium.
Joël Piroe had given the Hammers a sixth-minute lead, but Derby remained within one goal until Austbø struck late in the second half.
Mohamadou Kanté then added a stoppage-time third as West Ham secured consecutive Championship wins. The Press Association match report confirms that both substitutes scored their first goals for the club.
For Nuno Espírito Santo, Austbø’s impact creates an obvious question before Tuesday’s trip to Bolton.
Edvin Austbø gives West Ham something different
West Ham pursued Austbø for much of the final weeks of the transfer window.
An initial offer was rejected before the Hammers eventually completed the winger’s arrival from Viking for around £10m.
There were good reasons for that persistence.
Austbø scored six goals and supplied seven assists during Viking’s title-winning 2025 campaign and was named the Eliteserien Young Player of the Year. His final appearance for the Norwegian club also brought a goal as Viking secured Champions League qualification.
West Ham bought potential.
Against Derby, they got an early glimpse of how quickly that potential might translate to English football.
Austbø was introduced with the game still at 1-0 and West Ham having lost some of their first-half intensity.
Derby had begun to believe an equaliser was possible.
Then Austbø changed the mood.
Arne Engels delivered from the right, Jarrod Bowen failed to make clean contact and Austbø reacted quickly to turn the loose ball home.
Suddenly it was 2-0 and the contest was effectively finished.
Manor Solomon now has genuine competition
The significance goes beyond one goal.
Manor Solomon has been Nuno’s preferred option on the left side of West Ham’s attack, while Bowen remains extremely difficult to dislodge on the opposite flank.
Austbø was primarily recruited to provide depth and competition in those positions.
He may now force Nuno to consider him sooner than expected.
West Ham’s expanded attacking options can be seen in our permanent West Ham squad guide, which will track Nuno’s first-team group throughout the season.
There is no need to overreact to one substitute appearance.
Solomon still offers experience and has contributed positively since arriving in east London.
But Championship promotion campaigns are rarely won with the same XI every week.
West Ham travel to Bolton on Tuesday before facing Wrexham on Friday and Fulham in the Carabao Cup shortly afterwards. The full run is available on our West Ham fixtures and results page.
Rotation is coming.
Austbø has just made himself extremely difficult to ignore when it does.
Nuno’s squad depth finally starting to show
That may ultimately be one of the most encouraging consequences of the Derby victory.
Nuno was able to introduce Austbø, Adama Boiro and Morato from a bench transformed by the end of the transfer window.
Kanté then capped the afternoon with a powerful late finish of his own.
West Ham’s starting XI did not need to produce its very best football to win comfortably.
The substitutes made the difference.
That is precisely why Austbø was signed.
Five days after completing his move from Norway, he has already given Nuno another serious selection decision.
