West Ham United under-23s defender Ajibola Alese was promoted to training with the first team on Friday, according to Football London.
The London-based football news site reports that the 18-year-old joined up with his senior colleagues a couple of days ago, but he is not expected to cement his spot in Manuel Pellegrini’s squad just yet.
The report adds that the young centre-back played for the under-23s against their Leicester City counterparts on Sunday afternoon, and that he also signed his first professional deal in July last year.
OPINION
The fact that Pellegrini has been promoting a handful of youth players to first team training this season shows just how much he is an advocate of the youth talent that the club has to offer. Alese is the latest player to make the step up into senior training after the likes of Grady Diangana, Conor Coventry, Joe Powell, Ben Johnson and Xande Silva – and they all managed to get first team debuts this season. The report may state that he is not going to be a permanent fixture in Pellegrini’s just yet, but that could all change next season if the manager vows to maintain the philosophy he has created this term. Alese has already played and captained the England team at youth level, so it is clear that he has the potential to be a star of the future for the Hammers. Either way, being drafted in to first team training is a promising step in Alese’s West Ham career.
