When watching clips of Pablo in action over in Portugal, what is immediately noticeable about West Ham United’s next number nine is the sheer variety of finishes the Gil Vicente talisman appears to have in his locker.
During the 2025/26 campaign, in which he scored ten goals in 12 Primeira Liga starts, his first three efforts were all put away with his supposedly ‘weaker’ left foot.
Pablo appears to have a happy habit of squaring up to centre-backs, shaping to shoot, and then shifting the ball onto his other boot before firing at goal. No matter whether he is on his favoured side, or creating an angle with his left, the Braga-born 21-year-old is always sniffing out openings like a hungry shark scenting a drop of blood in a wide open ocean.
Now, West Ham are expected to sign Pablo imminently for a fee in the region of £17.5 million.
Pablo looks set to be West Ham’s first signing of January…💪
What are YOUR thoughts on this deal?
As former Gil Vicente teammate Felix Correia tells A Bola, Nuno is getting himself an ‘exceptional’ centre-forward.
Gil Vicente head coach Cesar Peixoto is backing Pablo to thrive in the Premier League, too, due to his impressive mobility and speed.
Comparisons with Chelsea icon and former top-flight champion Diego Costa certainly bode well. As do the statistics which suggest that, despite obvious concerns over whether Pablo possesses the track record or the experience to make an immediate impact in the heat of a relegation battle, West Ham United might be about to land one of the finest young strikers in all of Europe.
West Ham United-bound Pablo is statistically more ruthless than Erling Haaland and Harry Kane
That ability to find a half-yard and execute quickfire shots with either foot is certainly something reminiscent of Diego Costa in his Stamford Bridge heyday. The firebrand, Brazil-born, Atletico Madrid legend scored 52 times in just 89 Premier League matches.
If Pablo can produce similar numbers during his own stint in the English capital, few will be talking about the so-called West Ham striker ‘curse’ from here on in.
“He’s described to me as a type of Diego Costa-style centre forward,” reporter Duncan Castles says on the Transfer Window podcast. “Very physical, powerful, a good project player.
“But a couple of people I’ve talked to about him, who have been positive about him as a player, wonder whether West Ham United is the right place for him to make that first move to a high-focus top-tier team.”
That, of course, is an understandable concern.
On the day in which AC Milan finally confirmed Niclas Fullkrug’s arrival in Italy, and as the Hammers close in on Taty Castellanos of Lazio, a quite dismal record when it comes to goal-shy number nines has again been a topic of discussion in East London.
What stands Pablo in much better stead than those who have come before him, though, is his penchant for making and taking chances out of very little.
Per Data MB and Fbref, Pablo ranks in the 99th percentile across the continent when it comes to his goal conversion rate, and in the 94th percentile for non-penalty goals with 0.69 per 90 minutes.
He has ten league goals from an ‘Expected Goals’ tally of 5.6.
Data MB’s metrics have him down as a more ruthless finisher than Erling Haaland [90th percentile for goal conversion] and Harry Kane [96th percentile].
Those ten goals have also come from just 18 shots inside the penalty area. In short, he scores with more than half of the shots he takes from within 18-yards of the goalline.
Just how IMPORTANT is Saturday’s trip to Wolves? 🐺
A must-win, surely…
Pablo’s high-pressing is reminiscent of Chelsea favourite Diego Costa
For context, Callum Wilson sits in the 79th percentile. Jarrod Bowen, West Ham’s top scorer going into Saturday’s colossal clash with Wolves, is in the 53rd.
“He’s a player who has shown fantastic quality,” the aforementioned Peixoto told Mais Futebol in October, also highlighting the formidable work-rate which only adds to those Diego Costa comparisons.
“But above all – and I know that forwards always tend to focus on goals – he works very hard without the ball. He’s very important in the initial pressing phase. He’s a player who really, really, really works hard.
“He’s very important to us in that sense too.”
While the goals have flowed relentlessly this season, a stunning strike produced by Pablo in the UEFA Youth Cup while representing Famalicao back in 2023 perhaps sums him up best.
As seen on Canal Plus’ X page, Pablo shuffles to his left before shifting the ball onto his right, holding off a marker in the process. He sends the defender for a proverbial hotdog and curls a sublime shot into the top corner from distance.
That, of course, is the sort of finish even the best centre-forwards tend to produce once, maybe twice a season.
Pablo, statistically more ruthless than Haaland and Kane, let alone Wilson and Bowen, could make himself an immediate West Ham icon by simply doing the simple things. With, of course, the same dead-eyed efficiency which put him in the shop window at Gil Vicente.
“Pablo has a knack for beautiful, technically demanding goals,” explain PortuGoal, an expert blog about all things Iberian. “Capable of a ferocious finish and demonstrating excellent close control in preparation for the finish.
“Pablo can occupy entire defensive lines with his mobility and physique, becoming Liga Portugal’s third best forward and the Young Player of the Month for August due to his self-sufficient potential and selfless play as an indefatigable presser.”
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