West Ham United signed Manchester United right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka for a seven-year contract worth £15 million, capping off their hectic summer transfer window.
The senior Premier League transactions of this summer have been rated by our authors, who are experts in data analysis, tactics, transfers, and football finance. They have divided the ratings into five categories and assigned a score out of 500 to each category. The Athletic 500 was born. More information about the ratings can be found here (not all transfers will be graded because there may not be enough information to justify an analysis).
Below is our rating for Wan-Bissaka to West Ham.
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Tactical fit — 78/100
A look at how the player fits into his new club tactically, using Sentient Sports’ bespoke tactical-fit model, explained by our tactical expert.
Wan-Bissaka’s five seasons at United caused division among the team. Although he was adored by many for his defensive skills, he was criticized for his lack of success in the attacking third. Injuries have not helped Wan-Bissaka’s case much lately either; over the last two seasons, United has only played in 41 of the 76 Premier League games.
That being said, Wan-Bissaka is in his prime having turned 26 in November of last year. His defensive prowess was evident once more in his 22 league games played last season—all but two of which were starts—as he averaged 2.1 interceptions and 3.4 clearances every ninety minutes. In addition, he was in the top 7% of Premier League full-backs, winning 73% of his 2.3 dribbler tackles.
Wan-Bissaka’s greatest asset and what sets him apart from the majority of his rivals in the English premier league is his one-on-one defense.
Here’s an example of how he gently exposes his body to allow wingers—in this case, Jeremy Doku—to try to beat him before making a precisely timed slide tackle to win the ball back against Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May.
Obviously, this is a ploy that comes with its risks. Wan-Bissaka has occasionally mistimed those slide tackles and missed opportunities to dispossess an opponent earlier.
While dribbling is not one of Wan-Bissaka’s strong points, his passing has been respectable but not outstanding (an 83.5 percent success rate on 49.8 attempts per 90 in the Premier League last season). Nonetheless, Wan-Bissaka’s ball progression has improved; last season, he had the best league rate of progressive passes per 90, with 3.9, since 2020–21.
He is also capable of making effective underlapping and overlapping runs, which are crucial components of the new West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui’s playing philosophy. The latter was demonstrated by his deft pass and dribble in the build-up to Rasmus Hojlund’s Champions League debut against FC Copenhagen in November.
Overall, Wan-Bissaka projects to be a solid fit at West Ham.
Their long-time first choice right back, Vladimir Coufal, provides greater offensive support (seven assists in 36 Premier League games last season), but Wan-Bissaka is a stronger defensive alternative and has shown recently that he can be a front-footed player who can also occasionally contribute offensively.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
Season rating: 56/100
Rating the player over the course of last season, using statistics from The Athletic’s data team.
Wan-Bissaka made 22 Premier League matches and contributed two assists during a mediocre season.
Even though Wan-Bissaka was Diogo Dalot’s backup for the most of 2023–2024, she performed well when needed. He excelled in a thrilling 3-2 home victory against Newcastle United in May, as well as in the FA Cup final victory against Manchester City.
Wan-Bissaka missed 22 games in all competitions due to injuries that plagued his season. Although he made good defensive contributions, he may have done better in the last portion of the game.
Gillian Kasirye
Gaming rating: 73/100
Rating the player according to Football Manager 2024’s data across both current and potential ability.
Football Manager claims that Wan-Bissaka, a seasoned and accomplished Premier League player, has the skills to enter West Ham’s starting lineup right away.
His current ability rating of 143 contrasts favorably with the other defensive options available to Lopetegui. Wan-Bissaka is the team’s best right-back, with a rating of 136, ahead of Coufal, who is probably going to be his main rival in that role. He is ranked marginally lower among their defenders overall than Kurt Zouma (150) and recently signed loanee Jean-Clair Todibo (147), but he compares favorably with other summer acquisitions Emerson (139) and Maximilian Kilman (143).
The wide-ranging scouting network at Sports Interactive thinks there is yet more to come. Should Wan-Bissaka attain that ceiling, his potential ability score of (150) would place him on level with Zouma.
Elias Burke
Financial value rating: 59/100
A four-category summary of the player’s transfer in financial terms — and whether it makes sense for his new club
Market value — 20/25
When compared to other defense transfers this window, including West Ham’s £40 million acquisition of 27-year-old Kilman from Wolves, a sum of £15 million looks reasonable for a player who is already 26 years old and has eight years of Premier League experience at both Manchester United and former club Crystal Palace. In other news, Crystal Palace paid Barcelona £15 million to get 21-year-old Chadi Riad.
Squad cost — 14/25
With the addition of this agreement, West Ham’s summer buying spree has intensified since Lopetegui took over as manager in lieu of David Moyes. They have been linked to more additions, but there might not be much space left after adding Kilman and Todibo to their defense in addition to fresh faces in the midfield and attacking zones.
Contract sensibility — 12/25
Wan-Bissaka will enter his thirties after signing the seven-year contract. He has the chance to establish himself as a top full-back in the Premier League, but should the move go through, the club will be stuck with him for a long time.
Resale value — 13/25
Wan-Bissaka may fetch more if he continues to perform well in the future, but it would be shocking if West Ham recovered anywhere close to the £45 million that Palace paid Manchester United for him in the summer of 2019.
Alex Brodie
Risk or reward? 73/100
Is there a history of injury or other problems that could crop up and make this deal a bad one in retrospect? Or does the player come with a clean bill of health? Our expert takes a look.
Although Wan-Bissaka failed to live up to his full potential after joining Manchester United, a team of such grandeur, for £45 million at the age of 21 and only making 42 Premier League starts, this seems like a better fit for both him and the squad he is joining.
Since joining in the summer of 2020, Coufal has shown to be a fine addition; but, he turns 32 this month, and there were indications last season that he is aging. West Ham has added Wan-Bissaka, who is perhaps the best one-on-one defender from right back in the Premier League, to replace him. Coufal is the more dynamic attacker when he plays at his best, but Wan-Bissaka’s defensive talents are so strong that Lopetegui is willing to give up some offensive prowess.
As previously mentioned, Wan-Bissaka is in his prime but still has a lot to offer. Although it has not been the easiest place for young players to grow over the last ten years, Old Trafford offers him the opportunity to get better in possession in this new setting. If he succeeds in doing so, he has the potential to rank among the league’s top right backs; if not, he remains a tremendous one-on-one defender.
Wan-Bissaka is a signing that their supporters should be excited about, even though West Ham will have some worries about him due to his six injuries from the 2018–19 season, which have kept him out of action for three games or more.
Elias Burke
Overall rating: 339/500
(Photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
