Young England goalkeeper picked as West Ham’s youngster to watch
Young goalkeeper Daniel Jinadu has been picked by the Guardian as the player to watch at West Ham. So what do we know, and how long before we see him in action?
With a long history of producing talent, and a more recent of producing players who haven’t quite made it, the West Ham academy is still regarded as one of the best around. With a wide scouting base and the focus on local talent, there’s certainly an ethos to be proud of. So when a national newspaper names you as the one to watch going forward, that’s got to feel good.
Well young goalkeeper Daniel Jinadu has been named by the Guardian in their top academy prospects report. The keeper has been selected for the England youth sides, featuring at U16 and U15 level, but could also represent Nigeria in the future if he wanted to. However there isn’t a great deal of data around him, because he’s just 16 years old. With a birthday in June 2002, just the fact he’s old enough to play football on a full size pitch makes me feel old.
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Daniel Jinadu
The youngster started his youth career at Chelsea before being released in 2017. With a number of big clubs interested in him (and reported trials at clubs like Spurs and AC Milan) he signed a scholarship deal with the Hammers in January 2018, and has already made an impact on the new manager. Not many players of that age are included in pre-season training with the first team, even if there are squad issues. But I wouldn’t expect to see him in the first team for a while.
As a goalkeeper he is going to progress a bit slower than the other players, with experience and maturity counting for more between the sticks. There is also another talented goalkeeper ahead of him in the form of Nathan Trott. Again we’re yet to see the best of him, so hopefully we’re going to see two young keepers coming through the ranks and progressing into our first team.
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Whilst a single newspaper report claiming you’re a big talent won’t get you there, it shows he’s making the right moves. I wish I could tell you more about Daniel Jinadu, but with him being so young and the youth teams getting less coverage than the main side it’s going to be a couple of years before we see highlights of him blocking the world’s best from a West ham goal.