One to watch
Some loans are about keeping a player ticking over. Others are about letting them announce themselves. Divine Mukasa chose the loudest possible option on Wednesday night.
The 19-year-old attacking midfielder, out on a season-long loan from City to West Ham, tore through Wolves at the London Stadium with a brace that helped the Hammers to a 4-2 win. It was the kind of performance that makes you wonder what the Championship is going to do with him all season.
Mukasa had made three appearances for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side before this one. By full-time, he had made the evening about himself.
The goals
His opener arrived in the 33rd minute and was worth the price of admission on its own. Picking the ball up around 25 yards out, he took two touches to set himself, then let fly with his right foot. The ball thundered in off the crossbar, leaving Wolves goalkeeper José Sá with no chance. A rocket is the only honest description.
Twenty minutes later, Mukasa had his second. This time he did it from closer range, collecting the ball just inside the penalty area, cutting onto his left foot and seeing his shot take a deflection before nestling in the net. Not quite as clean as the first, but they all count.
More than a scorer
What will have pleased City most is that Mukasa’s contribution went beyond the goals. Nuno Espirito Santo was delighted with the youngster’s all-round game — his positioning in midfield, his passing and his work without the ball.
“I’m delighted, not only for the goals but the way he played, the positions he took in the middle of the park,” the West Ham boss said. “He is a young player with a lot of things to improve but I’m delighted to have him.”
That “lot of things to improve” line is the sensible bit. Mukasa showed flashes of his talent during last season’s loan at Leicester City, but flashes are exactly what they were. The aim of this spell at West Ham was always about progress, about turning those moments into something more consistent.
One night against Wolves doesn’t prove that job is done. But it is a decent start, and the kind of performance that reminds everyone why City sent him out in the first place.