Formed by Hammers supporters Jack Elderton and Callum Goodall to offer their fellow fans in-depth but accessible analysis of their team and its players, Analytics United provide content for the Club's official website, app, Official Programme and social media channels.
For their latest column, Analytics United use performance analysis and data to examine the contribution Carlos Soler could make to West Ham United...
West Ham United confirmed the loan signing of 27-year-old midfielder Carlos Soler from French giants Paris Saint-Germain late on transfer deadline day.
The Spaniard adds his creative talents to an attacking midfield department already burgeoning with dynamic and forward-thinking brilliance, looking to bring more goals and greater control to Julen Lopetegui’s team.
Soler initially put himself in European football's spotlight at Valencia, a club he joined as an eight-year-old in 2005. As a youngster, he played as a centre-forward before slowly transitioning into midfield roles as he progressed along his developmental path up through the youth system.
During his standout season for Valencia in 2021/22, he was most commonly deployed as an advanced midfielder and returned 12 goals and five assists, enough to earn him an £18million move to Paris Saint-Germain.
But since arriving at PSG, he has seldom been afforded opportunities to showcase his talent. In his first season, he was limited to just 26 Ligue 1 match involvements, averaging 45 minutes per appearance, often out of position. And in the 2023/24 season, he was only given 24 appearances, with nine of those coming in a wing-back role.
Across his time at PSG, Soler has never really received a prolonged run of matches in a more comfortable and better suited midfield role with that attacking licence he once was given at Valencia. And as Lopetegui looks to add some creativity to the middle of the pitch in his 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 shape, Soler will hope to finally find himself back at home in east London and recapture his best form as a result.
Soler is the type of midfielder who imposes himself most in the final third, and this becomes clear in his touch map across different areas of the pitch. While he is only at the 56th percentile for touches in the midfield third per 90 compared to all other midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues, he ranks in the top 14% for touches in the attacking third among the same sample and jumps to the top 8% when considering touches in the attacking penalty area.
Combined with an average shot distance of just 14.8 metres, comfortably inside the 18-yard box, Soler showcases a key part of his midfield profile through his touch data: a midfielder who is most comfortable in opposition territory, identifying and then drifting into dangerous space to receive the ball before using this space to great effect.
Soler doesn’t just get himself into dangerous areas; he’s also more than capable of capitalising on the attacking opportunities his clever positioning generates – a part of his game he’s retained from his early days as a centre-forward.
His goals-to-shots ratio across his two seasons in Ligue 1 sits at a stunning 0.21 (a goal every five shots), enough to rank in the top 5% of midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues last season. And his non-penalty expected goals per shot shows just how important his positioning is with a 0.13 figure (ranking in the top 14% midfielders) equalling much higher than average chance quality.
Crucially, he doesn’t just bring that quality of chance but also an abundance of those chances as his npxG per 90 sits in the top 27% of midfielders. These numbers depict a midfielder who consistently finds high quality shooting opportunities, adding significant goal threat to a midfield and forward department already jam-packed with goalscorers.
Soler’s threat around the opposition penalty area is not limited to shooting himself; he’s equally as adept, if not better, at creating chances for teammates. His expected assisted goals (xAG) tally – the xG value of shots directly following a Soler pass – sits at 0.19 per 90, placing him in the top 11% of midfielders across the top five European leagues, and his ability to accurately play through balls (for which he ranks in the top 17%) mean he offers a similar creative range to Lucas Paquetá.
Soler also provided 1.53 key passes per 90, within the top 19% of midfielders over the last year, and ranks in the top 16% for passes into the penalty area, showing that his positioning and final third quality doesn’t just generate shooting opportunities for himself and that he adds chances for all of the players around him too.
This could be vital for West Ham with players like Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus, and Crysencio Summerville surely set to profit from having such a potent threat joining the front line from midfield alongside them.
For all the upside Soler brings in the final third, he is also beneficial in helping his team get there by linking play in the middle third, something Lopetegui’s team will need as they aim to control games with the ball more this season.
Whilst we may not expect to see him in deeper midfield too commonly, Soler still ranks at the 76th percentile among midfielders for progressive passes. More typical of his game is finding room in advanced areas for his teammates deeper in midfield to use him as a passing outlet.
He regularly positions himself between the defensive and midfield lines of opposition blocks with the aim of receiving the ball in pockets of space between groups of players. His quality as a progressive outlet is demonstrated by his top 10% rank for progressive passes received (4.68 per 90), meaning teammates rarely struggle to pick him out.
In Carlos Soler, West Ham have signed a versatile, intelligent midfielder who excels in the middle and final thirds. His ability to occupy dangerous spaces in attack, combined with his knack for both scoring and creating, makes him an exciting addition to Julen Lopetegui’s midfield.
*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of Analytics United and do not necessarily reflect the views opinions of West Ham United.
