By Louis Nixon
**Kyle Walker-Peters scored his first goal for the Hammers against Burnley, but how important can he be for the rest of the season?**
After a last-minute move with Besiktas collapsed, Walker-Peters completed his move to East London and has since impressed on numerous occasions this season, despite the club’s bumpy start to the campaign.
His first goal for West Ham and since 2022, was scored against Burnley, which also proved to be the winning goal, securing us six points from two games.
Despite not starting the match and being a super sub, he’s still managed to impress which is crucial considering his services will be required week in, week out, seeing as our primary starting choice in Wan-Bissaka will be leaving the squad for AFCON.
Having a player such as Walker-Peters to be able to rotate within the squad whilst also having a significant impact is a huge factor and something any top club requires to maintain at a good level.
The Hammers’ fixtures heading into Christmas aren’t pleasant and there isn’t many visible ‘easy games’ which we could cherry-pick points from. This run is also then followed by the AFCON fixtures which are set to leave the club without Malick Diouf and Wan-Bissaka for a period of time, which is exactly where Walker-Peters’ role and being able to just slot into the team will be vital considering the circumstances in the league.
As well as the guaranteed events, unexpected events like injuries can always occur and squad depth is typically something we’ve lacked. Fortunately in this instance, we’re covered and at this trajectory, Walker-Peters will continue to make a name for himself becoming a fan favourite in Claret & Blue.