Nuno Demands More Firepower as West Ham Signs Engels

West Ham United manager Nuno Espirito Santo has welcomed the arrival of Arne Engels – and immediately called for even more attacking reinforcements.

The club have paid a Championship record £22m to sign the midfielder from Celtic, making him their fourth new addition since relegation from the Premier League. It is a statement signing, but Nuno made it clear it cannot be the last.

“We need players, especially in the offensive part of the team,” he said, speaking after his side surrendered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at Burnley in their Championship opener. The result underlined the problem as much as his words did.

West Ham’s rebuild has been busy rather than spectacular so far. Engels follows Brighton defender Joel Veltman, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Manor Solomon and the permanent capture of Keiber Lamadrid, whose loan from Deportivo La Guaira was converted in January.

Nuno has experimented, using “double full-back” systems in recent games to squeeze more creativity and width out of his squad. It has been resourceful, but not enough for a manager who knows the demands of a 46-game Championship season.

“We have young lads, we have options of double full-back, like we did in the last game and in this game, but we need more bodies in the offensive part of the team,” he said. The message was blunt: depth up front is non-negotiable.

Engels arrives with numbers that justify the fee. At Celtic he scored 17 goals and produced 22 assists in 100 appearances, a consistent attacking output from midfield that West Ham have been crying out for.

“He’s a very good player. I think he’ll help us a lot in the middle of the park, where we have two young players,” Nuno said, clearly seeing Engels as both a stabiliser and a spark. The Portuguese coach also pointed to the looming return of Tomas Soucek as another key piece in his reshaped midfield.

“We have Tomas too. When he returns, I think we’ll have more options and be stronger in the middle of the park.”

Behind the scenes, the pace of business is intense. Nuno described “a lot of activity” as the club push to arm him with the tools to mount an immediate promotion challenge.

“The club knows the targets and the needs of the team. We’re working very hard and trying to get the bodies in as soon as possible.”

Engels is through the door. The real question now is how many more attackers West Ham can find before the window slams shut – and whether that will be enough to turn a patched-up frontline into one that can carry them back to the Premier League.