West Ham manager David Moyes will look to build a squad of young British talent in the summer, via The Daily Star, in a new plan to stop the Irons being a team fighting for Premier League safety every year.
The report from The Daily Star has stated that ‘He (Moyes) already intends to add Grady Diangana and Josh Cullen to his squad when the pair return from loan spells at West Brom and Charlton respectively.’
While it isn’t absolute proof, the form of Jeremy Ngakia in the first-team can perhaps serve as a fairly promising preview should the plan go ahead. The 19-year-old right-back, per Sofascore, has been called up from the academy and has impressed since he has come into the side with Ryan Fredericks currently injured, managing to average 1.5 interceptions per game and also 3.0 tackles per game.
For someone who has only played four times in the league, with two of these appearances against Liverpool and one against Arsenal, the teenager looks to be settling into a Premier League side very well. Indeed, if he is able to come straight from the academy and impress, there’s perhaps a chance some of the others can.
With West Ham sitting in 16th, level on points with 18th, via BBC Sport, and only two points from 19th, the youth could be helpful in the club’s relegation fight this season if called upon.
After all, Felipe Anderson has barely had his best campaign. Comparing his goal contributions with the teenager, per Whoscored, the Brazilian has only managed one goal and four assists this season, whilst Diangana, who is currently on loan at Championship side West Brom, has managed five goals and five assists, in fewer appearances. Obviously, the Baggies man is playing a division below Anderson but his stats do look promising. In fact, he only trails him by 0.5 dribbles per game whilst averaging 0.2 passes per game and could perhaps serve as a long-term option.
Meanwhile, Mark Noble, via Transfermarkt, will be 33 at the end of the season and arguably coming near to the end of his football career, which may give Cullen a chance to impress. While Tomas Soucek did arrive in the January transfer window to offer more options in the engine room, the club did reportedly try to sell Carlos Sanchez during the same period and Jack Wilshere has suffered with injuries, so turning to a player who previously impressed Manuel Pellegrini to further beef up that area of the squad could be a wise idea.
With West Ham’s past transfer plans clearly not working as they sit near the bottom of the Premier League, a new strategy in turning to the youth could be a good idea. While not an in-house project, the signing of 23-year-old Jarrod Bowen certainly looks to have been a wise idea given he impressed against Southampton and the Irons do have a proud history in developing talents from their academy.
Hammers fans, would you be happy with trying to sign young talent? Comment below!