What Wolves recruitment team noticed about Bastien Meupiyou should leave West Ham buzzing

West Ham United would be signing a player in Bastien Meupiyou with "great confidence."

With the Hammers still waiting on their first transfer breakthrough of the summer, some fans are beginning to get slightly restless.

Nuno Espirito Santo will be hoping to add a number of players to his squad before the window closes, with numerous key players needing to be replaced and upgrades to be made.

Meupiyou has emerged in West Ham transfer circles in recent days, with the 20-year-old centre-back now back at Wolves following a loan spell in Portugal last season.

Now that Axel Disasi is back at Chelsea, and with further exits possible in the heart of defence, Nuno will no doubt wish to add at least one new central defender this summer.

Should the Hammers get a deal done for the Frenchman, then they will be filled with confidence given what has been said about him previously.

What did Wolves say about Bastien Meupiyou?

West Ham Zone has been following reports that West Ham may need to pay around £12.8million to sign Meupiyou from Wolves this summer.

That would mark a significant investment for a player who hasn't kicked a competitive ball in English football, despite joining Wolves in the summer of 2024.

However, it was upon his move to Molineux that the official Wolves website penned a detailed assessment of his profile, character and attributes, and what was said will tick all the boxes for the Hammers.

"The first thing Wolves’ recruitment team noticed about the defender was his physical side, as well as being a big and quick centre-back," Wolves wrote.

"...This type of centre-back is becoming preferable to top end managers, including Gary O’Neil, who wants to have Wolves playing a high line with pace at the back, and the recruitment team feel Meupiyou will fit in with this requirement."

This is a big green flag for West Ham, as Nuno will no doubt want his team to press high up the pitch in the Championship, and Meupiyou is capable of doing that.

"Meupiyou, who has come over to Wolverhampton with his brother, has been described as a humble boy who has a love of football," they continued.

"On the pitch, the defender has showed great confidence, both in his physical ability to compete but also technical ability, but the recruitment team believe he has the necessary confidence to build from.

"Meupiyou has shown good character in his young age to bounce back from disappointments. The first was being sent off early on in his senior debut for Nantes, and then suffering a bad injury, which saw him miss the majority of last season.

"But the recruitment team feel the defender has reacted well to these set-backs and displays the type of character he is."

So, his profile and attitude looks to be qualities West Ham will greatly admire, but just how did he fare in Portugal last season and did his numbers highlight his potential?

Why Meupiyou's Liga Portugal numbers will excite West Ham

For a defender still so young and inexperienced, a move to Portugal's top division was going to be a big challenge for Meupiyou.

However, he posted some numbers that were amongst the very best for centre-backs in Liga Portugal last term, showing his ability and potential.

As per FotMob, no central defender in Liga Portugal completed more successful dribbles than his 23 in 2025-26.

Meanwhile, he also ranked in the leading 5.8 percentile amongst his positional rivals for his 47 tackles won.

On top of these numbers, Meupiyou placed in the top central defenders for his 119 recoveries, 120 clearances, 29 interceptions, 119 duels won and 1,128 successful passes.

So, if he can put up those kind of numbers in a top European league at this stage of his career, coupled with those aforementioned attitude and playing style traits, Meupiyou could be an absolute bargain buy for West Ham.