West Ham United midfielders Nathan Holland and Conor Coventry will likely be the next Hammers youngsters to make a first team breakthrough, according to Football London.
The outlet claims that the talented duo have the best chance of joining the likes of Declan Rice, Grady Diangana and Xande Silva in making the step up at the London Stadium in recent years.
Defender Ben Johnson was the latest academy product to start for Manuel Pellegrini’s side when he took the field against champions Manchester City on Wednesday.
Injuries are thought to have been the only thing preventing Holland from breaking through already, while Coventry has long been thought of as a potential first team star.
OPINION
West Ham have had a remarkable record of nurturing talented youngsters from the academy all the way through to the first team and beyond, and that’s certainly been the case again this season. Everyone from Rio Ferdinand to Frank Lampard by way of Jermain Defoe have made the breakthrough in East London, and Pellegrini seems keen to give even more youngsters the opportunity to wear the famous claret and blue shirt. He’s promoted Diangana, Silva and Johnson already this season, and you wouldn’t bet against him doing the same for Holland and Coventry before the campaign is over. Certainly, the two midfielders have been earmarked as future first team players for a long time now. It was expected that Holland might have made his mark already by now, but the 20-year-old has been extremely unlucky with injuries. Hopefully both he and Coventry will get their chance soon enough.
