Quality’s still there – Graham Potter eager to help Evan Ferguson discover touch

NEW CHAPTER: Graham Potter believes he can help Evan Ferguson rediscover the form which once saw him touted as a £100m player. Pic:West Ham United FC/West Ham United FC via Getty Images

Graham Potter believes he can help Evan Ferguson rediscover the form which once saw him touted as a £100m player.

Potter gave Ireland striker Ferguson his debut at Brighton aged just 17 and he quickly became one of the most sought-after teenagers in Europe.

Ferguson scored 10 goals in his breakthrough season, and at the start of the following campaign he hit a sparkling hat-trick against Newcastle.

But injuries and a loss of form saw the goals dry up and this season he has started only four matches for the Seagulls.

Potter, who took over as West Ham boss last month, picked up Ferguson on loan on deadline day and the 20-year-old is poised to make his Hammers debut against Brentford.

“Sometimes with young players we jump in too quickly,” said Potter. “I think when you’ve made 50 appearances that’s always a good number to go, ‘OK now we can assess where things are’.

“And if you’ve had some injuries, you’ve got that disruption, it’s not easy.

“Sometimes in football if you’re hot, you’re hot and when you’re not, you’re not. We can go quickly from one extreme to another, which is silly really because the player quality is still there.

“We had these conversations even when he was 17 at Brighton around, ‘let’s not sign a centre-forward because we’ve got Evan coming through’. We had huge belief in him.

“But injuries can stop you and all of a sudden you haven’t played as much, you haven’t scored as much and then you’re not quite the same thing.

“But the quality is still there. It’s just our job now to get him on the pitch, help him enjoy his football.

“As a young player you need to give him a bit of time before you make real assessments and put price tags like that on them, but it is what it is.” The deal from Brighton is a straight loan, with no option or obligation to buy at the end of the season.

“I don’t think we should think like that,” added Potter. “We should think about how we can help Evan enjoy his football and bring the quality that we know he has.

“Let’s just focus on that. Let’s focus on having the best 14 matches we can, and then we can make a decision at the end of the season.” Potter can welcome back Lucas Paqueta, Edson Alvarez and Jean-Clair Todibo from injury against the Bees.