Opinions

Holland should force loan exit

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OPINION

West Ham youngster Nathan Holland surely should force a loan exit before the window shuts in order to ensure his development keeps heading in the right direction.

The 21-year-old attacker dazzled for the Hammers’ U-23s against Brentford B on Tuesday, so much so that some Hammers fans were left raving about him on social media, and it is easy to see that he needs a tougher challenge than youth football.

Holland only came on during the second half for the Hammers’ U-23s against Brentford but was still able to grab the headlines by scoring the equalising goal to earn his side a 2-2 draw.

The winger has also previously proven he’s capable of wowing in the U-23s, as he has scored eight goals while assisting 11 in 35 outings for them, and you have to wonder if continuing to feature for them is actually helping him fulfil his potential.

After all, Holland is a player that has been continuously tipped to break into the first-team, former West Ham academy chief Terry Westley told Claret & Hugh he was looking forward to seeing him in the senior side, while Jack Collison named him as the next youngster who Manuel Pellegrini would most likely turn to next.

Yet as it stands the 21-year-old has only featured once for the first-team, and that appearance came in the 3-0 win over Bolton in the EFL Cup in 2017.

Holland hasn’t made any of Pellegrini’s squads this season, across the two league games that have happened, and you have to question how much playing time he can realistically get with the senior side if he sticks around.

This is especially the case when you consider that fellow young winger Grady Diangana opted to leave on loan to join West Bromwich Albion despite being higher in the pecking order than Holland.

Diangana made 21 appearances for the senior side last season, so if he thought he was better off dropping down a division what hope does Holland have?

So with that in mind and Holland running out of time to secure a loan exit, League One and League Two sides have until September 2nd to get players on loan (Source: talkSPORT), the 21-year-old should request a temporary move.

This is especially the case as the Hammers are still yet to make a decision on whether to loan him out, as reported by reliable Hammers source EXWHUemployee on Twitter, as he shouldn’t want their hesitation to cause him to miss out on move that could aid his career.

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