West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini is giving the club’s most talented academy players a chance to earn a first-team place, according to Football.London.
The outlet claims that Pellegrini has included seven of the best academy prospects in their pre-season training camp squad, with a view to them earning a place in the senior squad next season.
The report reveals that Marcus Browne, Conor Coventry, Nathan Trott, Sead Haksabanovic, Joseph Anang, Daniel Jinadu and Martin Samuelsen have all joined up with the first-team squad in Switzerland this week. Hopes are high for midfielders Browne and Samuelsen in particular.
20-year-old Browne is a regular for the West Ham Under-23 side and is a technically gifted attacking midfielder with great physical attributes, able to dribble past, or simply run through the opposition defence. He showed great form in the Premier League 2 last season, scoring six goals and providing two assists in just 12 appearances (TransferMarkt).
21-year-old Samuelsen is a more widely known talent who’s had loan spells in the EFL with Burton Albion, Peterborough United and Blackburn Rovers in recent years. He’s more of a wide player, who relies on his skill and dribbling to get past defenders, rather than physical strength. He’s already made his debut for the senior Norway national team and made nine Championship appearances for Burton last season (TransferMarkt).
OPINION
West Ham fans love when a young academy player comes into the first-team and does well. Look at how the likes of Mark Noble, Reece Burke and Declan Rice are adored by the Hammers faithful. There are a few promising youngsters in that list and it’s great that the new manager Manuel Pellegrini is giving these players a chance to earn their place. Due to the short-term nature of this division, not many Premier League bosses would do that, especially when their job is on the line. The Chilean will likely be impressed with Browne and Samuelsen due to their technical prowess, as that’s what he needs from his squad in order to instil a passing philosophy. Fans at the London Stadium will hope to see a bit more of them next season, sometimes all a young player needs is one opportunity to show what they’re made of, maybe they’ll take that chance now.
