Is it time for West Ham’s academy to shine?

With the lack of signings coming to West Ham this summer, fans are understandably annoyed at the lack of ambition from the board. But what it does present, is a fresh opportunity for a certain set of players.

The academy of football hasn’t been as prevalent in recent years after an admittedly high standard set from the late ’90s and early 2000s, with Mark Noble often representing the cause from his debut in 2004 all the way to the present day – now as captain.

Of course, since his emergence in 2017, Declan Rice has been nothing short of a sensation as he now represents England at international level, something which Noble unfortunately never managed to do.

This, combined with his Hammer of the Year award for the season just gone, highlights the magnitude of player he already is at just 21-years-old.

Now, with less than two weeks until the return of the Premier League, an influx of academy players look to be pushing their way into David Moyes’ first-team squad as places remain up for grabs.

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Grady Diangana proved himself on-loan at West Brom last season in the Championship and looks more than ready to show his worth in the top-flight this time around with further experience under his belt.

So far in pre-season, he has looked to add another dimension to the Hammers attack with a direct style of play as he looks to constantly take his man on, even if it doesn’t always work out. Felipe Anderson, for example, favours the same position as Diangana but has often been criticized for being too passive when presented with an opportunity to hurt the opposition defence.

Another starlet who is looking to break into the first XI is Ben Johnson. The 20-year-old appeared in a stretch of games at the end of last season and looked defensively assured as he helped guide West Ham to safety.

He is directly competing for the right-back spot with Ryan Fredericks, who gets questioned for his lack of defensive awareness, which is often the source of goals conceded for the Hammers.

Johnson, whilst perhaps not the finished product going forward, certainly has the edge over Fredericks defensively, which may play into Moyes’ line of thinking, especially as he looks to shore up the backline.

With West Ham’s lack of forwarding options, Xande Silva may also see himself get a chance in the coming season, perhaps playing the limited role that Ajeti partook last season.

Silva has suffered his fair share of injury troubles over the last year and his progress has therefore been hampered. With this new opportunity potentially being handed to him, however, he will be looking to kick on and take his chance in the first-team at 23-years-old.

Other academy stars who will be eyeing up a place under Moyes are the likes of Conor Coventry and Josh Cullen.

Both of these midfielders have represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level or above, and will perhaps be competing for the same role at the base of midfield.

Rice and Soucek, respectively, occupy the two positions that Coventry and Cullen may look to conquer, but with Noble ageing and Jack Wilshere never too far away from an injury, a chance to shine may present itself for one, if not both, of them this season.

All-in-all, the future looks bright for the academy of football, and may even take shape to become back to its signature status as early as this season.