Edson Alvarez’s highly-anticipated arrival in east London for £35 million in August 2023 followed the highly-dreaded selling of Declan Rice, the club captain who led us to our first European trophy in decades and left a wide hole in midfield which desperately needed filling. While it was hard to imagine bringing in another player of Rice’s pedigree, Alvarez ticked a lot of boxes on fans’ wishlists. The then-25 year old Mexican international arrived fresh from winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup with Mexico and also winning the Dutch Eredivisie title two times with Ajax – so he had experience with winning.
At the time of Edson’s arrival, our then-manager David Moyes said: “The midfield area was one we were especially keen to strengthen this summer – and Edson will complement the other options we have in that department.”
Season One: Strength, Stats, and a Clutch Goal
The defensive midfielder brought a promise of strength both in defending and attacking to the club, becoming a formidable line of defence and providing vital services to link the ball through the midfield and disperse it further down the pitch – and often came in clutch when considering the service he provided to his teammates. On October 22 he secured his first assist, providing Jarrod Bowen the opportunity to score against Aston Villa. Further accolades were still to come when, in the Europa League, he delivered a stunning performance against SC Freiburg, grabbing a goal and an assist in our December win. His first Premier League goal came in March 2024 when he struck late in stoppage time to seal up a last-minute West Ham win.
He made 31 appearances in his first season – and the stats paint a picture of a player who contributed well to the Hammers. In the Premier League, he played 2,383 minutes and made 1,195 passes in his first season, completing 86% of them. He made 80 tackles, 42 interceptions and 20 blocks – stopping a significant amount of opposition attacks from proceeding.
Discipline and Discontent: The Managerial Merry-Go-Round
His second season didn’t quite add up to the same accolades. He played less in the 2024/25 Premier League season, notching up just 1,781 minutes. His passes went down – just the 987 – but his completion rate remained high at 87%. He also made far less tackles (50), interceptions (18) and blocks (8) – but still found time to make significantly more fouls.
In fairness to Alvarez, no one had a good season in east London last year, and the lack of consistency in management seems to have had an impact on him. He played his best football under David Moyes in the 2023/24 season, and didn’t thrive under either Julen Lopetegui or Graham Potter in the 2024/25 season. Tensions between Edson and Lopetegui seemed to boil over after Alvarez was sent off for receiving a second yellow against Nottingham Forest. Graham Potter’s arrival didn’t seem to help, and rumours abounded at the end of the season of unrest between the two. Reportedly, Alvarez refused to play in a game against Southampton after exchanging words with Potter.
Where Edson let the side down under all of his managers was with his interesting approach to getting carded. He once told West Ham’s social media team that discipline was one of his best skills, but the man was somewhat of a connoisseur for cards. He received 11 yellow cards in his first season, with David Moyes publicly challenging him to improve his disciplinary record, and he started his second season in a similar vein. He was sent off after receiving two yellows in West Ham’s shameful 5-1 League Cup loss to Liverpool in September and then again in a 3-0 Premier League loss to Nottingham Forest.
Loaned Out: A Disappointing End to the Promise
While the reasons for Alvarez’s departure are swirling in guesses and conjecture, he is a player who is capable of great things. He spent his final ‘West Ham’ summer bringing home a CONCACAF Gold Cup win for Mexico, scoring the winning goal in the final, and winning the Golden Ball award. This didn’t impress West Ham or Graham Potter, and West Ham’s response to this major accolade was to lend him out to Turkish Super Lig club Fenerbahce for the season.
Whilst we cleared up wages for new players, we’ve also sent away a useful player who we spent £35 million on, without a scrap of a sale fee to reinvest in new players. If it isn’t working out for a player, it’s the right thing to do to make a change – but given Alvarez’s strong start to life at West Ham, it’s a disappointing end for a pricey player who arrived full of promise just two years ago. Time will tell how he performs under a new manager in a new scenario.
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