Much of the blame for West Ham United’s relegation has understandably – and inevitably – gone the way of David Sullivan, Karren Brady, Graham Potter and Nuno Espirito Santo.
Yet, a series of ill-fated transfer dealings did not make life any easier for those in the dugout.
Nuno Espirito Santo should of course have questions asked of him following the January arrivals of Adama Traore and Pablo Felipe. Traore thrived under Nuno at Wolves yet didn’t even start a Premier League match. Pablo, who shares an agent with the West Ham United coach in Jorge Mendes, failed to score a single goal following his £18 million move.
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Traore is now expected to leave with his short-term contract expiring in July. Disastrous acquisitions such as Niclas Fullkrug, Jean-Clair Todibo, Max Kilman and James Ward-Prowse may also move on, having set the club back over £130 million combined.
A £14 million signing from Monaco, Soungoutou Magassa was also a disappointment. Magassa started only two Premier League matches after being hauled off at half-time during the season’s rock-bottom moment; a 3-0 battering by Wolves in early-January.
But – and hopefully this is not a statement driven by delusion – Magassa and the aforementioned Pablo should not be written off just yet.
Pablo and Soungoutou Magassa need pre-season at West Ham United
Magassa arrived alongside Mateus Fernandes on a busy late-August afternoon in 2025.
By that point, West Ham had already played two Premier League matches; a 3-0 loss at Sunderland and a 5-1 obliteration by Chelsea. Now, Fernandes already had a full season of UK-based football under his belt following a stint at Southampton. Magassa was not so fortunate.
Only a month after arriving, Magassa spoke about the speed and intensity of the Premier League, and how it made his transition from Monaco exceedingly difficult. He looked off the pace on his first start in a 1-1 draw with Everton. Nuno’s first game in charge, coincidentally.
“I felt good, but it was new for me, the Premier League. A new league, new opponents that I don’t know, and full stadiums, which isn’t always the case in France,” Magassa said. “I didn’t have a lot of rhythm because I haven’t had the chance to play a lot this summer.
“It’s not the same [as Ligue 1]. There’s more intensity, and there’s more space, but it’s definitely a lot different, as sometimes you think you have the time, but you don’t.”
Had Magassa joined at the start of June rather than the end of August, perhaps he’d have fared better. As he himself mentioned above, the France Under-21 international did not have a pre-season to get used to life at West Ham; chucked in at the deep end with the competitive action already well underway.
Pablo needs time while Fabinho should inspire Magassa
Presuming he stays, Pablo will also take part in pre-season training for the first time this summer.
According to damning claims put forward by The Athletic this week, Nuno pushed for Pablo’s signing despite concerns from the medical team about a pre-existing hamstring injury. He would also miss five matches with a calf problem almost immediately after that £18 million transfer from Gil Vicente.
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In truth, the Hammers fans have seen extremely little from Pablo to suggest he is worth even a fraction of that fee. Yet, Pablo scored 10 goals in 13 Primeira Liga starts during the first half of the campaign. Clearly, there is a talented centre-forward in there somewhere.
Perhaps, like with Magassa, he just needs a full pre-season and a little bit of patience.
Magassa could certainly do worse than to follow the example of another ex-Monaco midfielder who took time to settle following his transition to life in England.
“The intensity is different from what I am used to,” Fabinho, who would go on to win Premier League and Champions League titles at Liverpool, said following a sluggish start at Anfield in 2018.
“[After being given time to adapt], I’ve got into the rhythm of the team and got used to the style of play.
“Obviously, in the first games, I didn’t have that automatic understanding with the rest of the team, so I had to work a bit harder to understand other players’ runs. But I can do this faster now.”
Who knows, maybe we will be seeing similar quotes from Magassa a few months into 2026/27.
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