Pablo Felipe may finally have found the moment West Ham United have been waiting for.
The 22-year-old scored his first goal for the club during Tuesday’s 3-2 Carabao Cup defeat to Fulham, ending an eight-month wait to get off the mark following his January move from Gil Vicente.
Pablo arrived in East London after scoring ten times in 13 Primeira Liga appearances, but translating that form to English football had proved difficult.
Nuno Espírito Santo now believes breaking his duck could transform the striker’s confidence at an important stage of West Ham’s Championship promotion push.
Nuno expects Pablo Felipe confidence boost
Speaking after the Fulham defeat, Nuno told Hammers News that Pablo’s first goal could prove significant.
“The goal was missing, so it’s going to be a big boost of confidence for him [to get his first],” Nuno said.
It was reward for a forward whose contribution has often extended beyond goals.
Nuno has repeatedly praised Pablo’s movement, pressing and willingness to work without the ball, while Read West Ham previously highlighted the remarkable win-rate statistic that helps explain why the manager continues to select him.
The West Ham boss reinforced that assessment after Fulham.
“We always look to our forward players to score, to increase [their output], and he gives us more solutions than options,” Nuno added.
Pablo came close to adding a second shortly after the interval when he narrowly failed to convert Jarrod Bowen’s delivery.
For a striker who had waited so long for his first goal, that increased threat was arguably just as encouraging.
Pablo can strengthen West Ham promotion options
West Ham reportedly paid around £21.8million to sign Pablo from Gil Vicente in January.
Expectations were therefore considerable after the forward had scored ten league goals in just 13 appearances during the first half of last season.
His first eight months in England have been considerably more difficult.
Goals alone, though, have never entirely explained why Nuno has retained faith in him.
The 22-year-old’s pressing, movement and ability to occupy defenders can create space for players such as Jarrod Bowen, while his physical profile is particularly useful across a demanding Championship season.
Adding goals to those qualities would make Pablo a considerably more valuable option.
That matters even more now West Ham’s Carabao Cup campaign has finished and attention has immediately switched towards the Championship promotion challenge.
Saturday’s trip to Millwall provides the first opportunity to discover whether Nuno’s prediction proves correct.
One goal does not erase Pablo’s difficult start to life at West Ham.
But after months of waiting, it could finally provide the confidence required to turn his hard work into regular end product.
