Credit: Manh Tung - Breaking Media

Samuel Fabre

Sat 14 March 2026 11:45, UK

Adama Traore can finally announce himself at West Ham United when they face Man City at the London Stadium on Saturday.

Traore joined West Ham for £1million from Fulham, with an additional fee of £1m being paid if they manage to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

The Spaniard signed a six-month deal, and the Hammers will have the option to extend it for an extra year.

Although Traore has found regular game time hard to come by, Crysencio Summerville’s calf injury means that he’s likely to start on the left wing for the next two matches.

When West Ham host Man City on Saturday, Nuno Espirito Santo needs his players to step up, but he can take solace in the fact that Traore has an excellent record against Pep Guardiola’s side.

Adama Traore loves coming up against Man City

Nuno was desperate to sign Traore after spending three years together at Wolves, and the Portuguese head coach saw his brilliance against Man City firsthand.

In the 2019-20 season, Traore scored both goals for Wolves as they won 2-0 at the Etihad, before finding the back of the net and registering an assist in the return fixture.

As a result of his fine performances in both games, he has scored more goals against Man City (three) than any other team in his career.

And after showing promising signs in West Ham’s FA Cup win over Brentford, he’s definitely ready to haunt the Citizens again.

According to Sofascore, Traore won 67 per cent of his duels and averaged a 7.2 rating in his 45-minute cameo against the Bees.

In the Premier League this season, the Spaniard has completed 2.49 dribbles per 90 minutes, and he could have some real fun against Man City left-back Rayan Ait Nouri.

The 30-year-old has an abundance of Premier League experience and although there are question marks over his end product, he is definitely a valuable asset.

Traore could turn out be West Ham’s smartest signing in years

It’s clear that Traore can’t replicate Summerville’s heroics in a short space of time, but he provides good depth for the Hammers.

For context, Summerville has registered 91 touches in the opposition box and completed 33 successful dribbles.

He will be a huge miss for the Hammers, but luckily, they have Traore, who causes different problems out wide.

Often labelled as one of the strongest players in the top flight, opposition defenders have found it tough to defend him over the years.

Traore is lightning quick, and if he can come up with key goal involvements over the next two games, then it will be money well spent for West Ham.

If they hadn’t bought him, the Hammers would have been light on options to replace Summerville, which would have been an even bigger blow to their hopes of Premier League survival.

Therefore, he could prove to be one of their smartest acquisition in recent years.