Why Dwight McNeil is West Ham promotion-winner in waiting despite Everton struggles

West Ham United would place a cornerstone piece of their promotion puzzle with the signing of Dwight McNeil.

The wait continues for West Ham's first new signing of the summer continues, but Hammers chiefs are working hard.

Due to relegation from the Premier League, getting their outgoing business in order first was always likely to be the strategy.

Incomings are sure to arrive soon enough though, and in McNeil, West Ham could strike promotion gold with the 130-apperance Everton winger.

The 26-year-old has been a mainstay in the Toffees' side since joining them from Burnley in the summer of 2022.

But, despite enduring his most disappointing campaign on Merseyside in 2025-26, West Ham shouldn't have any fears over sanctioning a move for him.

How Dwight McNeil has been among Premier League's best at Everton

West Ham Zone has been following West Ham's reported interest in signing McNeil this summer.

A loan move appears his most likely escape route out of Hill Dickinson Stadium, and the Hammers have been touted as a potential candidate to provide him with a temporary new home.

Last term was a rough one for him though, as he failed to score in any of his 25 total appearances for Everton, and providing just the one assist.

However, the former England youth international had enjoyed three very solid seasons with the Toffees prior to 2025-26, and in fact, was putting up numbers to rival the very best in his position in the Premier League.

As per FotMob, McNeil ranked in the top 2.5 percentile of all Premier League players in his postition for his 2.56 successful crosses per 90 minutes in the 2024-25 season.

In that same year, he also placed in the leading 5.8 per cent for his 0.79 bug chances created and 0.28 expected assists per game too.

Things were even better for him in 2023-24, as he led all English top-flight players in his position with his 17 big chances created, whilst also being in the top 1.6 per cent for his 65 successful crosses.

And in his debut 2022-23 campaign with Everton, McNeil was in the top three per cent of his Premier League rivals for his 50 successful crosses, whilst also completing 53 dribbles and creating 49 chances to boot.

Judging from West Ham's production in 2025-26, McNeil's crossing and ability to pick defensive locks would be invaluable.

Why McNeil can fix West Ham's playmaking problems

With only 46 goals goals scored in the Premier League last season at an average of 1.2 per game, West Ham need more cutting edge in attack ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.

One of their big problems was the quality of their crosses, with the Hammers' 3.7 accurate crosses per game ranking as the sixth-lowest in the division last term.

In addition to that, the Irons only narrowly finished above Wolves (289.0) as the second-worst team for accurate passes per game (289.9), and so work evidently needs to be done in these departments.

McNeil is a brilliant crosser of the ball, as even despite the fact he was only able to register one assist in 2025-26, his 0.77 successful crosses per 90 and 23.8 per cent success rate were both comfortably above the league average among his positional rivals.

If West Ham can keep Taty Castellanos in the Championship, then pairing his aerial presence as well as his movement in and around the box with McNeil's deliveries could be deadly.

McNeil is a player whom only it's only in 2024-25 that scored four goals and provided six assists in 21 Premier League games, and a player of that production level, at that level, isn't typically available for loan moves to the Championship.

West Ham should absolutely snap his signature up if possible this summer, as a rejuvenated and on-form McNeil has the ability to be in a league of his own in the second tier.