West Ham United’s deadline day signing Carlos Soler has spoken on his excitement about joining the club ahead of what “could be a special year of the Hammers” under Julen Lopetegui. 

The 27-year-old Spaniard was announced by the Hammers on a season-long loan from Paris Saint-Germain after the 11pm deadline slammed shut. The Valencia academy graduate says signing for the Hammers was a lifelong dream to play in the Premier League, and to do that in London, with a big club, under a manager he knows well. Carlos Soler has all the potential to have an excellent season in claret and blue.

“It feels lovely,” smiled Soler. “I’m very excited to play here this season in front of our fans. I have spoken with Julen [Lopetegui], and we are all very excited about this season. It (has) always has been an ambition of mine to play in the Premier League. I have dreamed since I was a kid to play here, and West Ham are a big Club in the Premier League. I think it is the best league in the world. There are so many difficult teams to play against, and every match is very difficult to win, so we want to have a very good season.”

Former West Ham fan favourite Pablo Fornals was a big part of helping Carlos decide to make the switch to East London, this comes to no surprise to Hammers fans as he still interacts with the club on social media.

“I’ve spoken with Pablo Fornals, and he has told me that this Club is one of the biggest in the Premier League, so let’s have a big season. He is an idol here and spent four-and-a-half seasons at West Ham. Hopefully, I can repeat his success.”

Carlos Soler also knows Julen Lopetegui pretty well, but hasn’t actually played a game under the former Spain manager. Soler was selected by Lopetegui ahead of the 2018 World Cup when he was just 21-years-old at Valencia. However, Lopetegui was fired before the tournament after agreeing to join Real Madrid the following season. Soler didn’t go on to make his debut for Spain until 2021.

“I’m so excited [to be working with Lopetegui]. I spoke with him two or three times before I arrived here, and I want to play for his team and West Ham United. He is a very good manager from Spain and did a great job at Sevilla, FC Porto, and was with the national team too. I think we can repeat this and have a good year. I think his teams are very organised, difficult to play against, and it is very hard to create opportunities against them. His teams are very well set up, attack well and at Sevilla he did a very good job.”

Soler rounded up his interview with the official West Ham website with some words that will get Hammers fans excited. He said: “I think this year could be very special for the Hammers, and we are going to do what we have to do to make this Club even bigger. I think we can repeat this and have a good year.

“I think the midfielders here have so much quality, but it’s not only the midfielders, but we also have a strong squad full of international players and quality. We want to play for the fans every week and improve this year. I hope that we can win a trophy here [this season]. I am going to do everything for the fans, the Club, and will always give my best.”