West Ham are looking for a “complete midfielder” who plays like Odegaard
Highlights
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West Ham's new era is focused on domestic success after missing out on European football this season.
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Carlos Soler's dynamic style of play could add a new dimension to West Ham's midfield.
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Soler, compared to Arsenal's Odegaard, brings consistent goals and assist skills to the team.
Julen Lopetegui is supported. West Ham United parted company with David Moyes at the end of the 2023/24 season after his reign reached a critical stage, and now there is renewed hope that success can be found again.
Two years after winning the Conference League, West Ham will not be playing European football for the first time in three seasons, but this at least gives a new era to focus on unity ahead.
The Premier League side have adopted a free-flow approach this summer, with the technical director strengthening across the park, and while improvements are being made, there could be more to come as the window enters its final fortnight…
West Ham are looking for another midfielder
According to the Daily Mail, West Ham have inquired about the availability of Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Carlos Soler as Steidten look to make their ninth (yes, ninth) signing of the summer.
The experienced Guido Rodriguez has arrived to add some flair to the engine room but Soler will bring a dynamic perspective.
The Spaniard is valued at €20m (£17m) by the Ligue 1 champions, and while the Irons' spending has reached £120m this summer, this could really be the icing on the cake.
What Carlos Soler will bring to West Ham
Soler is a professional footballer with a keen eye for passing. His natural understanding of tempo allows him to maximize this ability to play the ball and influence successive attacks effectively.
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Carlos Soler: 23/24 Mathematical Division |
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|---|---|---|
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Mathematics |
at 90 |
Percentile |
|
Goals were scored |
0.17 |
Up to 13% |
|
Resources made |
0.17 |
Up to 19% |
|
An attempt was made to pass |
63.51 |
Up to 19% |
|
Continuous passes |
6.10 |
24% higher |
|
touch (att pen) |
2.59 |
Top 7% |
|
Statistics by FBref (vs midfielders) |
||
He signed for PSG from Valencia for €20m (£17m) in 2022, and having now made 63 appearances – scoring eight goals and assisting eight others – he has struggled to find a star role in a squad full of talent and can well he moved from the dress and I saw him as one of the most prominent ones.
West Ham can provide such a platform. At the age of 27, Soler is at his peak and now has to praise that he is “the perfect midfielder”, as one-time Valencia player Curro Torres said, and is showing his skills in the Premier League.
You are talented. FBref's player comparison model also marks Arsenal's Martin Odegaard as one of the best players in Europe's top five leagues – and we all know how well the Norwegian maestro has done on English soil.
Arsenal have failed to face Manchester City in their last two top-flight challenges, although Mikel Arteta deserves all the accolades after turning the Gunners into one of the continent's top outfits. Odegaard has been the epitome of such success.
In the last two years, the player who has seen all the players has scored 26 goals and 18 assists, and rewarded the team. Player of the Season of 2023/24 after an impressive season of supreme influence.
Indeed, according to FBref, he ranks among the top 8% of midfielders in Europe's top five leagues last year in goals, top 3% in assists, top 1% in shots, top 2% in assists. Pass and top 14% out of 90 passers.
Odegaard obviously operates at a higher level than Soler, but the PSG man's ability to score and assist in equal measure speaks to his attacking prowess. Furthermore, he is a passer and that is something I could see imitating the Arsenal star.
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