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Despite breaking the Championship ‘transfer record’ with their purchase of Celtic’s Arne Engels, it might not be the eye-catching £22 million transfer which has the most profound effect upon the Hammers’ promotion prospects. That’s with no disrespect to Engels who looks as if he has a high ceiling and can improve week on week into a key player at the club this season. However the lower-key loan deal which brought former West Ham academy player Divine Mukasa back to London Stadium for the season may yet prove to be the most inspired piece of business which the club carried out in the window just closed. Hitting the ground running, the still nineteen-year old Manchester City loanee has already scored two goals for the Hammers and looks as if he could provide the attacking prowess from midfield that the Hammers haven’t really seen since Jesse Lingard’s days. If he has a similar impact upon the club’s fortunes the his will be a loan spell to remember indeed. As footballleagueworld.co.uk wrote this morning, his stats from Man City served due notice that here was the real deal waiting for an opportunity: “Mukasa’s remarkable record for Manchester City’sU18s. During the 2024/25 campaign, he registered 16 goals and 15 assists in just 20 U18 Premier League appearances, amounting to an extraordinary 31 direct goal contributions.” Forget the longer-term implications for a while. Whilst Lingard was firing the Hammers towards European football, the buzz and rapid rise up the table created at the time was more than enough. Let it be the same this season. Hopefully the inspired loan of a hugely talented young man will deliver on the potential which it has already shown from his two hugely contrasting goals against Wolves, and Mukasa can have a bit of ‘Divine’ intervention on West Ham’s promotion push. Worry about replacing him next summer when hopefully, the Hammers ‘are back’, as is a decent transfer budget. For the meantime, whoever did the deal with the Cityzens deserves a pat on the back.