Arne Engels: One 'astonishing' stat shows West Ham have pulled off a real coup

Arne Engels came out on the losing side on his West Ham United debut as they were beaten 2-1 by Charlton Athletic.

The 22-year-old made the switch from Celtic this week after a Championship-record fee worth £22million was agreed with the Scottish champions.

But the Belgian would have hoped for a better start, after Lloyd Jones and Tyreece Campbell scored to sink the Hammers at the London Stadium, despite Joel Piroe's second-half consolation.

Nuno Espirito Santo claimed that Engels has been signed with the Premier League in mind, but that comment may age poorly if West Ham are not promoted.

The Irons are considered the favourite to win the Championship this season, but have opened the season with a draw against Burnley and Saturday's defeat.

Celtic, on the other hand, have opened their own season with four consecutive wins, scoring 13 goals and conceding just one.

The stats behind Arne Engels' Championship debut

While Celtic fans were disappointed to see Engels leave, there was an acceptance that his future lied elsewhere.

In fact, many thought the 22-year-old would have gone straight to the Premier League this summer.

Nottingham Forest had a bid reportedly worth £25m rejected in the winter, but did not return to renew their efforts.

Engels was among West Ham's few standouts on Saturday, doing all he could to prevent the defeat his team would eventually suffer.

The Belgian created three chances, took two shots, won two free-kicks and completed an astonishing 17 passes into the final third.

Defensively, Engels was sound. The midfielder completed two tackles, two clearances, five recoveries and won five duels.

While the result was ultimately disappointing, the former Celtic man will be pleased with his individual performance.

Celtic given brief Engels laugh after Martin O'Neill reveal

Following his departure, Martin O'Neill revealed that Engels had not wanted to play for Celtic ahead of his imminent move.

"Arne [Engels] wanted to go, he didn't want to play in the matches in case he got injured," he said. "I said again last week that was understandable if this is a move that he wanted to make.

"But for the football club, yes, it's disappointing because just at this moment, he's hard to replace in the side with that sort of running power that he has and that he gives us.

"So just even for these two games, that's disappointing, but it is what it is and there's nothing we can do about it."

Some Celtic fans may not see it the same way, and those fans have been able to take solace in West Ham's defeat on Engels' debut.