West Ham beat Derby 3-0 in the Championship on Saturday, and there was only one contender for Man of the Match.

Goals from Joël Piroe, Edvin Austbø and Mohamadou Kanté secured three points for the Irons, who now sit 8th in the league.

All three took their goals well, and Austbø even assisted Kanté’s strike, but none of the trio were the best player on the pitch.

Divine Mukasa was tidy in midfield, while Jarrod Bowen was causing the Rams big issues on the Hammers’ right. The backline were also generally solid, especially Max Kilman, who made an outstanding last-ditch challenge in the first half.

However, the clear Man of the Match, in my opinion, was Arne Engels. The Belgian international was stellar in the middle of the park for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side.

There are big expectations on the former Celtic man after his £22 million move to West Ham this summer. The Irons broke the Championship transfer record to acquire the midfielder, who turns 23 on Tuesday.

But after a questionable debut at home to Charlton, Engels has excelled in the Irons’ midfield, and Saturday was his best outing yet.

The Belgian is a superb passer of the ball, displaying composure on the ball and bite in the challenge. In recent games, he has complemented Mukasa really nicely in Nuno’s midfield.

When Engels was brought in, many fans saw him as the Mateus Fernandes replacement for the second tier. But against both Wolves and Derby, the 22-year-old has proved that he can influence play from deep – much like Edson Álvarez in his first season at West Ham.

Engels isn’t exactly a player who will drive forward with the ball like a Fernandes or Declan Rice. But his forward movement off the ball has been immense, and played a key role in Austbø’s goal at the weekend.

Engels and Mukasa are both very technically proficient, but what is perhaps even more impressive is their dynamism in midfield.

Their endurance, speed on the ball and spatial awareness are excellent. Such traits have been largely absent in West Ham’s midfield for years since the sale of Rice.

Fernandes was the most dynamic West Ham midfielder since the former Hammers captain. Following his departure, it is reassuring to see that the Hammers now have another midfielder who is comfortable on the ball and can get about the pitch.

It will be interesting to see how Tomáš Souček – and to a further extent Edson Álvarez and Soungoutou Magassa – will be integrated into this midfield. Because at the moment, Engels is more than proving his worth in claret and blue.