While West Ham United’s summer additions played a major role in Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest, another of those City Ground victors felt ‘like a new signing’ himself, according to captain Jarrod Bowen.
Graham Potter was delighted to see Mateus Fernandes link up with fellow newbie El Hadji Malick Diouf down the left-hand side.
Diouf himself would deliver Callum Wilson’s first West Ham United goal on a silver platter, while Kyle Walker-Peters succeeded where many Premier League full-backs have failed in 2025 by keeping Callum Hudson-Odoi on the periphery.
But even Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo had to admit it was Crysencio Summerville, and his 82nd minute introduction, which really turned the Trent tide.
A substitution so inspired, and so impactful, that Jarrod Bowen likened Summerville’s return after eight months out to a flying start made by a player making his first steps in claret and blue.
Jarrod Bowen hails Crysencio Summerville after his West Ham United comeback
After waiting thirteen Premier League matches to grab his first West Ham assist last season, Summerville needed only two minutes to open his account for 2025/26.
Picking up the ball after Lucas Paqueta had forced a turnover, the £30 million signing from Leeds United surged forward and rolled the ball into Bowen’s path. The West Ham skipper’s finish was ‘incredible’, to quote the Premier League’s all-time record goalscorer Alan Shearer, but it owed much to the positive thinking and flowing footwork of Graham Potter’s scintillating supersub.
“I think we’ve recruited really well, and obviously we’ve got Crysencio Summerville who’s come back from injury,” Bowen explained while on England duty this week.
“[Summerville] almost feels like a new signing because he’s missed nearly six months of football.
“When he came on at the weekend [against Nottingham Forest], he made a really big impact.”
Technically speaking, Summerville had to wait eight months, rather than six, to make his return to the pitch.
A hamstring injury ended his debut season at the London Stadium and, while he started training again over the summer, Graham Potter was understandably wary of throwing the Dutchman back in before his body was ready to take the strain.
A decision which, in hindsight, now looks like a very good one.
Nuno Espirito Santo admits Nottingham Forest could not cope with Summerville
Summerville then bewitched Ibrahim Sangare into giving away a spot-kick which Paqueta converted – West Ham reportedly made a loan bid for the Nottingham Forest midfielder before landing Soungoutou Magassa, ironically enough – and it was another burst down the left which preceded Wilson’s well-taken header in stoppage-time.
“We played the way West Ham wanted us to play. [They took advantage] of our mistakes and they were well organised. We made mistakes that really punished us and took the game away,” Nuno sighed after Nottingham Forest suffered their first defeat of the new campaign while conceding three quick-fire goals in the final ten minutes.
“Especially Summerville, the speed that Graham [introduced] caused problems. When you want to chase [a goal], you leave space in behind and places with speed are difficult to control.”
Alongside Mateus Fernandes, Summerville could be the perfect tonic to the lethargy which plagued West Ham in their first three matches.
The 2024 Championship Player of the Year will hope to make his first start since January during the London derby clash with Tottenham Hotspur after the international break.
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