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Arne Engels has signed for West Ham from Celtic for a Championship record fee of £22 million. The Belgian international was confirmed as a Hammer at 8.30pm on Saturday evening in a great announcement video by the club. The video features Engels listening to a recording of Pete Williams, kitman at the club. In the video, Williams discusses the importance of West Ham players “giving everything for the shirt”, as Engels listens to his words of wisdom on a pair of headphones. The kitman mentions Trevor Brooking, Billy Bonds and Bobby Moore, three icons of West Ham who were lauded for their commitment to the club on and off the pitch. In the video, Engels meets Williams, who hands him the No. 7 shirt that he will wear for the Irons this season. The announcement video has received wide praise from West Ham fans on social media for its quality and originality. In fact, all three of West Ham’s transfer announcement videos this summer have been excellent. The videos for Joël Veltman and Manor Solomon were well produced, and it was clear that considerable time and effort went into them – a far cry from the videos of the last few windows. In the last couple of years, West Ham signings have generally been announced with all the hype of a queue at the post office – a stool, the creased “Nan” curtains, a flag off Temu and some slow-shutter camera movements to try and make the video feel more exciting than it actually was. But this year, things have been different. The videos have told stories – simple stories, but very effective ones. Fans waited a long time for the Engels transfer to get completed, and this video makes the wait feel worth it. Hats off to the media team, of course, but this must be something Daniel Křetínský has realised is important to growing the club’s brand. Like the Tim Steidten “private jet” photos of 2023, these are the small things that excite fans and pump them up for the next matchday. Hopefully, this trend continues and, who knows, what might we see next? Troy Parrott sailing down the Thames? Axel Disasi calling his ‘home’ number, only for someone in Stratford to pick up? Jamie Vardy doing a slide tackle on a Millwall corner flag? The possibilities are endless.