OPINION
West Ham announced the U-23 squad that was set to take on Chelsea’s U-23s on Saturday and there was no sign of attacker Xande Silva in the first-team or on the bench.
The Hammers announced their latest U-23s line up via their official Twitter account and it appeared to drop a huge hint that the explosive winger could get a chance to feature for the first-team against Chelsea on Sunday.
The first of 2️⃣ starting XIs this weekend against Chelsea… pic.twitter.com/x3gsegqNwS
— West Ham United (@WestHam) September 22, 2018
Silva has been in lethal form in the Hammers’ youth set-up since joining the club in the summer from Portuguese side Guimaraes B and fans should be excited by his potential.
The 21-year-old winger has scored five goals, while assisting one, in five Premier League 2 appearances this season and has demonstrated tricky feet as well as blistering pace in order to make his opponents weak at the knees.
Given that Silva has looked like a big fish in a small pond when featuring for the U-23s this season then it seems only fair that an opportunity in the first-team should be on the horizon for him.
First-team manager Manuel Pellegrini is also no doubt aware of the youngster talents as the Hammers swiftly turned down any offer they got from clubs trying to borrow his services.
Claret & Hugh reported that clubs who tried to loan him were instantly told he wasn’t available as there were hopes he could break into the first-team as the season progressed.
Therefore it seems very likely that the explosive flyer’s unexplained omission from the latest U-23s squad could mean that he about to get a chance to feature for the first-team, potentially from the bench, in Sunday’s game against Chelsea.
