Carlos Soler finally announced himself on the Premier League stage with a man of the match display in West Ham’s 2-0 win at Newcastle.
Carlos Soler was the cherry on top of what looked a brilliant summer rebuild for West Ham.
The Hammers swooped on the final day of the window to bring Soler in from PSG on loan for the season.
It had been reported West Ham would be signing the Spaniard permanently for £17m.
But West Ham could only do a loan deal.
The reason why soon became clear.
A spokesman for West Ham’s owners revealed at the time that Soler is on a mammoth salary of £240k per week at PSG.
With the former Valencia star in contract with PSG until 2027, the club confirmed it made the prospect of a permanent deal bleak.
“Soler is on £240k a week at PSG,” the club confirmed to Hammers News after he joined.
“So it’s going to be hard to do a permanent deal.”
It had looked like West Ham dodged a bullet not signing Soler on a permanent basis.
West Ham share major update on future of Carlos Soler
The 27-year-old had failed to impress in brief cameos for the Hammers since arriving in east London.
Many felt he looked too diminutive and ill-equipped for the rigours of English football.
But Soler completely debunked that theory at Newcastle on Monday night.
He was arguably West Ham’s best – and key – player as they put in their performance of the year in a shock 2-0 win at St James’s Park.
Soler was one of the biggest stars in Spain when he was pulling the strings in Valencia’s midfield.
That’s why PSG went and paid big money for him as they hoovered up top young talent from around Europe.
West Ham saw exactly why in a performance that showed great intelligence and suggested he could be the ideal partner to get the best out of Lucas Paqueta.
As Hammers fans allowed themselves to get excited about their Soler flare, the fact the club had made it clear a permanent deal would be difficult suddenly dawned on them like an eclipse.
But now West Ham have shared a major update on the future of Soler that will excite fans.
Hammers give hope of keeping Spanish star on one condition
Speaking exclusively to Hammers News about Soler’s situation, a spokesman for the owners has given new hope a deal can be done.
Despite the fact PSG will still be tied in to paying Soler over £23m in wages by the summer, the Hammers are not ruling out a permanent deal.
But there is one big caveat – that he keeps up this form.
“It’s his first really good game,” the spokesman told Hammers News after Soler announced himself to the Premier League.
“Play 25 more games like that and anything is possible (when it comes to signing him permanently).”
That is fantastic news for West Ham fans.
There is nothing worse than having a player on loan who shines but there is no prospect of signing them permanently.
Julen Lopetegui pushed hard for Tim Steidten to bring Soler to the London Stadium.
The missing piece to West Ham’s midfield puzzle
When he arrived the manager gave his compatriot big billing.
“I think that Carlos Soler is a good player and he is going to help us, for sure,” Lopetegui said on his arrival.
“He is maybe at his best age, as he’s 27, he has international experience and is a very good player.
“He has a good profile for us as he can play in different positions and I think he is going to help us to be better.”
West Ham fans had seen little evidence of that, raising doubts over Lopetegui’s judgement.
That all changed at Newcastle as Soler knitted the team together expertly.
Now at least West Ham fans know that if he maintains those standards for the rest of the season, there is a chance the club will do a deal to keep him.
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