West Ham United have continued their busy summer transfer activity by signing Manchester United right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka for a fee of £15million on a seven-year deal.
Our writers — experts in transfers, tactics, data and football finance — have come together to rate this summer’s senior Premier League moves in five categories, with each aspect given a score out of 100, to reach a total score out of 500. Hence, The Athletic 500. The ratings are explained in more detail here (not all transfers will be rated as there may be a lack of data to support 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 divided opinion during his five seasons at United. While many loved him for his defensive ability, his lack of productivity in the attacking third brought him detractors. More recently, Wan-Bissaka’s case has not been helped by injuries — he featured in only 41 of United’s 76 Premier League games across the past two seasons.
Regardless, having turned 26 last November, Wan-Bissaka is in his peak years. In 22 league appearances last season, all but two of them starts, his defensive qualities were on show again as he averaged 2.1 interceptions and 3.4 clearances per 90 minutes. He also won 73 per cent of his 2.3 dribbler tackles, which ranked him in the top seven per cent of Premier League full-backs.
Wan-Bissaka’s one-v-one defending is his biggest strength, and one that separates him from most of his competitors in the English top flight.
The sequence below, against Manchester City in May’s FA Cup final, is one example of how he slightly opens his body up to invite wingers (in this case, Jeremy Doku) to try to beat him before making a perfectly-timed slide tackle to win the ball back.
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.
Wan-Bissaka’s passing has been decent but not spectacular (an 83.5 per cent success rate on 49.8 attempts per 90 in last season’s Premier League) while dribbling is not one of his strengths. However, his ball progression has improved — Wan-Bissaka’s 3.9 progressive passes per 90 last season was his best in the league for that metric since the 4.3 of 2020-21.
He can also make productive overlapping (a key element in new West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui’s playing style) and underlapping runs. The latter is evidenced by his dribble and clever pass in the build-up to Rasmus Hojlund’s opener away to FC Copenhagen in the Champions League last November.
Overall, Wan-Bissaka projects to be a solid fit at West Ham.
While Vladimir Coufal, their long-time No 1 right-back, offers more going forward (seven assists in 36 Premier League appearances last season), Wan-Bissaka is a better defensive option who has recently displayed the ability to be a front-footed player and occasionally contribute offensively too.
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 had a mixed season, in which he made 22 Premier League appearances and registered two assists.
Despite being second-choice to Diogo Dalot for much of 2023-24, Wan-Bissaka delivered when called upon. He had a standout performance in the FA Cup final victory over Manchester City and shone in a thrilling 3-2 home win against Newcastle United, also in May.
Wan-Bissaka’s season was affected by injuries, contributing to him missing 22 games across all competitions. Nonetheless, his contributions on the field were solid defensively, but more is desired from him in the final third.
Gillian Kasirye
Gaming rating: 73/100
Rating the player according to Football Manager 2024’s data across both current and potential ability.
A seasoned and experienced Premier League player, Wan-Bissaka has the attributes to come into West Ham’s starting line-up immediately, according to Football Manager.
His current ability rating is 143, which compares well with Lopetegui’s other options in defence. Coufal, likely to be his primary competition at right-back, has a rating of 136, making Wan-Bissaka the club’s standout player at that position. In terms of their defenders overall, he ranks slightly lower than Kurt Zouma (150) and new loan signing Jean-Clair Todibo (147) but compares favourably with Emerson (139) and Maximilian Kilman (143), another of this summer’s recruits.
Sports Interactive’s extensive scouting network believes there’s more to come, too. Wan-Bissaka has a potential ability score of (150), which would put him on par with Zouma, should he reach that ceiling.
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
At 26, and with eight years of Premier League experience already at both Manchester United and previous club Crystal Palace, a fee of £15million seems good value, especially when compared to other defender transfers in this window, such as West Ham’s purchase of Kilman, 27, from Wolves for £40m. Elsewhere, Crystal Palace paid Barcelona £15m for Chadi Riad, now 21.
Squad cost — 14/25
This deal adds to what has already been something of a summer spending spree by West Ham, following the arrival of Lopetegui to replace manager David Moyes. They have been linked with further signings too but, having already brought Kilman and Todibo into their defence while also welcoming new faces in midfield and attacking areas, there may be little room for more recruits.
Contract sensibility — 12/25
The seven-year deal will take Wan-Bissaka into his thirties. It gives him the opportunity to assert himself as a leading Premier League full-back, but it is a long contract for the club should the deal not work out.
Resale value — 13/25
Should Wan-Bissaka impress in the years ahead, he could be moved on for more than West Ham’s original outlay, but it would be surprising if they recouped anywhere near the £45million Manchester United paid Palace for him in summer 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.
While Wan-Bissaka struggled to fulfil his potential after moving to a club of Manchester United’s stature for £45million at age 21 and after only 42 Premier League starts, this appears to be a more suitable transfer for both him and the team he’s joining.
Coufal has proven a good signing since his summer 2020 arrival, but he turns 32 this month and there were signs last season that he is on the decline. In signing Wan-Bissaka, West Ham are replacing him with perhaps the most effective one-v-one defender from right-back in the Premier League. At his best, Coufal is the more dynamic attacker of the two but Wan-Bissaka’s defensive attributes are so impactful that Lopetegui will be content to sacrifice some offensive qualities.
As stated above, Wan-Bissaka is at an age where he is in his prime years but with plenty more to give. Old Trafford has not been the easiest place for young players to develop in the past decade, but there is room for him to improve in possession in this new environment. If he does that, he could become one of the best right-backs in the league… if he doesn’t, he’s still a generationally gifted one-v-one defender.
West Ham will have some reservations about him having suffered six injuries since the 2018-19 season that sidelined him for three matches or more but Wan-Bissaka, who brings experience and also adds to the east Londoners’ homegrown quota, is a signing their fans should be excited about.
Elias Burke
Overall rating: 339/500
(Photo: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
