When West Ham signed Arthur Masuaku from Olympiacos last summer, not everybody was convinced. His arrival came after Aaron Cresswell’s serious injury in pre-season and just a week before the Hammers’ first Premier League fixture. In a nutshell, the French left-back reeked of panic buying.
The 23-year-old’s first Premier League appearances suggested as much, with the Irons rather tellingly losing six of his first seven starts in the English top flight – the only exception being a 1-0 win over Bournemouth during the London Stadium’s debut Premier League fixture.
But after a few months out of the side, Masuaku returned with a bang last weekend, producing arguably the Man of the Match performance as West Ham eked out a 1-0 win over Swansea City to move themselves almost mathematically clear of relegation and push the Welsh outfit further towards the Championship.
Indeed, the result depended on the Hammers’ ability to keep a clean sheet against the bottom four’s top scorers and Masuaku was instrumental in achieving that, ranking first throughout all players involved in the match for tackles, five, and second for clearances, nine, after team-mate James Collins.
Masuaku arrived in east London as an attacking full-back, something his one dribble and zero unsuccessful touches pay testament to, but it was his defensive resilience that stood out against Swansea City and may well have stopped West Ham slipping into a tense relegation battle.
With Cresswell struggling to maintain his usual standards this season, partly due to injury problems, Masuaku deserves the chance to prove himself in the starting XI between now and the end of the campaign. Could West Ham’s panic buy prove to be a gem?
