West Ham United has always been known for its production run of academy stars. From Bobby Moore to George Earthy and everyone in between, the club is proud of producing its own.
But before Earthy came on to star against Luton, it had been a long time since Mark Noble burst through and significantly impacted the first team. It appears as though the next wave of stars could be set to reignite the infamous academy back to its heyday.
With Lewis Orford, currently embroiled in contract talks following interest from Premier League rivals, in particular Aston Villa, who requested him as part of negotiations for Jhon Duràn, is the next big hope. Freddie Potts enjoyed a successful loan stint at Wycombe last season and has impressed so far during the pre-season.
The next challenge for the Hammers is ensuring our young stars are kept happy and feeling wanted by the club. There was initial outrage following news of the club seemingly happy to let Orford walk without offering him a new contract and even offered him as part of a deal for Duràn.
Bizarrely, despite Villa displaying strong interest in the youngster, the deal was rejected, which has forced the hand of the board to offer him a new deal after offering him out. It has led to concern about the professionalism of the board, and it is easy to see why the likes of Ben Johnson and Divin Mubama became so disenchanted at the club and decided to seek other opportunities.
Johnson joined Ipswich Town following the promise of first-team football, with Mubama expected to move to either the Championship or take a more significant plunge and move abroad. Johnson always seemed unlikely to kick on to become the player his earlier promise suggested.
He burst onto the scene during the Covid season, offering pace in the full-back position with promising attacking flair, but with Vlad Coufal joining, his opportunities became limited, and despite the club offering him a new deal, he made the decision to leave him boyhood club for the betterment of his career.
The same could be said for Mubama. We have been crying out for a striker for a number of years now, and Mubama was banging goals in at Under-21 level, so surely his time was imminent. Instead, Danny Ings was signed, and his opportunities were further limited. In truth, having seen the majority of his brief substitute appearances, he looked a million miles away from being ready to compete at the top level.
He did, at least, have his memorable moments, scoring in the Europa Conference League against Larnaca in a 4-0 win and helping our young Hammers to a famous FA Youth Cup success at the Emirates.
With Mark Noble now overseeing the academy, the club, in theory, couldn’t be in better hands. Who better to sell the club’s academy than someone who has lived and breathed West Ham for over 20 years? The Irons must get the next few years at the youth level right. We are already struggling for home-grown players.
And what better way to save money than to bring through your own. Opportunities must now be given to these young stars, and it is hoped under this new management team they will be. It has been rumoured that the Lopetegui has been impressed by Earthy and Potts in pre-season, and nothing would make the West Ham faithful warm to a new manager more than seeing the academy graduates get their chances.
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