‘Complementary’ was the fitting description put forward by Nuno Espirito Santo when reflecting on West Ham United’s new-found midfield triumvirate of Lucas Paqueta, Mateus Fernandes and Freddie Potts.

Three players who, together, brought a perfect, solidifying balance to a midfield previously about as stable as a dining room table with a leg missing.

A trio of total, interlocking tessellation.

Freddie Potts offered a diligent, determined platform which allowed Mateus Fernandes to stretch his legs. Lucas Paqueta drifted here and there, carefree and bobbing around like a balloon on the breeze. The Brazilian could even be spotted popping up between the West Ham United centre-halves on occasions, in the knowledge that the space he vacated would be filled by his two young teammates.

Nuno took Nottingham Forest into Europe last season thanks, largely, to the iron-clad connections he built all across the pitch. Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo had that ideal blend of physicality and ball-playing. The physicality of Chris Wood gave flying wingers Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga something to play-off.

A midfield of Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliott Anderson and Nicolas Dominguez/Ryan Yates was one of the most effective in the Premier League.

There were shades of that 2024/25 Forest vintage as West Ham drew level with 17th place Burnley on Saturday. Paqueta marauding like Gibbs-White in Garibaldi red, with Fernandes and Potts winning tackles, breaking lines and haring around behind him.

“The midfielders [Potts and Fernandes] work hard and they are complementing each other,” Nuno said. “In the middle of the park, we have a lot of good options and the boys are doing really well.”

Freddie Potts builds on Stuart Pearce’s Declan Rice comparisons at West Ham United

After Potts outshone Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes during that 3-1, lighting-of-the-fuse victory over Newcastle, Stuart Pearce wondered if his old employers had found ‘the new Declan Rice‘.

The West Ham boss might not thank Pearce for drawing such pressurising comparisons – Nuno is keen to keep a lid on the excitement surrounding him – but it is easy to see where Pearce was coming from.

Potts, like Rice, rose through the ranks at Rush Green. And while Arsenal’s £105 million bludgeoner is a brilliant all-round number eight these days, he established himself in claret and blue as a tidy yet tenacious number six.

The same sort of role Potts is currently playing on Nuno’s watch.

The sample size is small of course, but the underlying numbers show that Potts is performing similarly in some departments to Rice in his breakout 2017/18 campaign. In fact, Potts averages slightly more passes and tackles per game at present.

But, against Burnley, Potts showcased another, less well-known side of his game. While Rice is the Premier League’s most dangerous taker of corner-kicks these days – Rio Ferdinand said Arsenal ‘might now have the best dead-ball specialist in world football’ – his young protege appears to have a name for himself with his own set-piece delivery behind the scenes at West Ham.

Potts showcased his set-piece threat against Burnley

Despite the fact that Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Crysencio Summerville and El Hadji Malick Diouf were all on the pitch, it was Potts who was chosen to take the corners before the West Ham academy graduate was forced off with a dead leg just past the hour mark.

“Did anyone else notice how dangerous we were from corners? Also, good delivery from Potts and Paqueta,” one fan wrote on X after the Hammers recorded successive wins for the first time all season.

One Potts delivery, from the right-hand side, even created a chance for Max Kilman inside the Burnley area. Kilman’s header was blocked, denying his fresh-faced teammate a first senior assist.

But, while only time will tell if he can reach the sky-high standards set by Declan Rice both from open play and dead-ball situations, Stuart Pearce may be feeling even more confident after seeing Potts add another Rice-esque string to his bow.

“Freddie Potts has come in and been absolutely outstanding,” former West Ham winger Matt Jarvis told talkSPORT on Monday. “I think he helps Nuno with regards to keeping the fans happy, because he is one of their own.

“It’s incredible what he’s done since he’s come in. To come in and put in back-to-back performances like he’s done, it’s a massive positive.”