West Ham United have been patchy this season so far, picking up a victory often to then have it followed up with a demoralising loss.
October was a difficult month in truth for David Moyes' Hammers, thumped on their travels to Villa Park up against Unai Emery's devastating Aston Villa 4-1 whilst a narrow 1-0 home defeat to Everton saw the likes of Jarrod Bowen and other crucial attackers for Moyes' men fire blanks as Dominic Calvert-Lewin ultimately won the tight contest for the Toffees.
Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta are standing out as fan favourites for the Hammers, the two midfielders providing eight goal contributions between them in all competitions with Kudus proving to be an instant hit with the London Stadium faithful after leaving Ajax for the Irons at the end of August.
The Hammers, however, have a star away from the club at this present moment in time that is now outscoring both Kudus and Paqueta in Andy Irving, the Scottish midfielder sent back out on loan to far-away SK Austria Klagenfurt to ply his trade after signing for the Hammers surprisingly on deadline day.
He has picked up immediately from where he left off in a Klagenfurt jersey, slotting straight back into central midfield as the side's main creative, goalscoring spark.
Irving's style of play
Formerly of Hearts of Midlothian and third-tier German side Türkgücü München before venturing further to new pastures, Irving caught the attention of West Ham off the back of his stylish displays in Austria.
Operating predominantly from central midfield – although Irving has played in an unorthodox centre forward from time to time – Irving's main set of skills involve his passing range despite being an imposing 6 foot 2 presence – accurately distributing six of his eight attempted long passes last time out for Klagenfurt in a 2-2 draw versus RB Salzburg per Sofascore.
Clever and intricate on the ball – creating space all over the pitch regularly to begin attacks – the ex-Hearts man is also adept at finishing off opportunities with his numbers in front of goal this season seeing him outperform West Ham first-team stalwarts Kudus and Paqueta.
Irving's numbers this season
Irving has six goal contributions of his own in the Austrian Bundesliga from 12 matches played, crucial in his side's efforts to finish high up in the division to compete with SK Sturm Graz.
In his first match of the season, Irving would single handedly drag his team over the line to a victory over WSG Tirol with two goals and an assist resulting in Klagenfurt overcoming their opponents 3-1.
Receiving a near-perfect 9.6 Sofascore rating from this encounter, the Edinburgh-born midfielder was instrumental in every positive to come from that game from a Flagenfurt perspective – the opener resulting from a delightful Irving delivery into the box, twisting and turning his marker before sending in the cross for Sinan Karweina to head home.
The Scotsman then got two goals of his own, the second of which saw the Klagenfurt number 19 dance on the ball in injury time before hammering an effort into the net past the WSG Tirol goalkeeper for 3-1.
He has three league goals in total and has showcased his ability to make a big impact from midfield, whilst Kudus (one) and Paqueta (two) have combined for two Premier League strikes.
A transfer deal that felt like a bolt from the blue at the time – the Hammers picking up an unheard talent from the Austrian Bundesliga – now feels like a shrewd bit of business, with Irving readying himself for first-team opportunities when he jets back to England at the end of this loan deal.