West Ham United have added to their scouting department with the capture of Georges Santos, a former Manchester City scout.
West Ham’s recruitment has ramped up since David Moyes’ return, with the likes of Tomas Soucek, Jarrod Bowen, Vladimir Coufal, Said Benrahma, Craig Dawson and Kurt Zouma all impressing.
The Hammers aren’t resting on their laurels though and landed a new Head of Recruitment in October as Rob Newman joined.
Newman left Manchester City for East London, having been International Scouting and Recruitment Manager in a 12-year spell at the Etihad Stadium.
Newman is now recruiting scouts to help him, and has gone back to his City roots to land Santos.
Santos has confirmed on LinkedIn that he has joined West Ham as a European First Team Scout, starting work last month.
Some will remember Santos from his playing days in England.
The former Cape Verde international turned out for 12 English clubs, but most memorably with Sheffield United.
Santos was involved in ‘The Battle of Bramall Lane’, flying into a challenge on Andy Johnson just seconds after coming on. The foul was retribution for Johnson injuring Santos in the past, with Santos playing a part in the game being abandoned.
That kind of things stays with your name long after the event, but Santos has carved out a successful scouting career.
Santos scouted with Newman at city from 2014 to 2016 before moving on to Mallorca in Spain.
Santos became an international scout at Marseille in 2017, but has now quit the French club for a move to West Ham and a reunion with former City pal Newman.
The 51-year-old will now look to unearth some gems with West Ham, who just keep taking huge steps forward.
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