West Ham Forgotten Transfer In Line For First-Team Action Next Season

West Ham fans may be forgiven for forgetting that Frederik Alves was the club’s first transfer of the January transfer window. Besides the defenders name popping up on the bench, occasionally little has been seen of Alves in the first-team.

Next season that could be about to change. According to reports, West Ham staff, including David Moyes, have been impressed by the youngster in training since he joined. The defender has also turned out of the development side on multiple occasions and has looked fairly good when he has played. However, he did pick up a red card in one game.

Alves joined West Ham for £1.4 million from the Danish side Silkeborg IF. The defender has already acquired a decent amount of experience, despite only being 21-years-old. Alves has already made over 50 first-team appearances in Norway at centre-back and full-back.

West Ham’s January acquisition of Frederik Alves went under the radar, but he is being readied for first-team action next season.

The defender is aware that he is down the pecking order at the club. But Alves should not be down heartened as that could change quickly over the summer. Fabian Balbuena is approaching the end of his contract, Craig Dawson is only on loan, and Angelo Ogbonna is soon to be 33-years-old. So it may not be long until opportunities start to open up.

"“When we played the FA Cup against Manchester United (February 9), Angelo Ogbonna was injured, and then Moyes sent me, Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop out and to warm up. He called Balbuena and sat him down again because he was a little doubtful with something in his calf. Then there was me and Issa Diop. It was Diop who was called and came in, so I’m the fifth man right now. My time will probably come. I prepare by working hard and getting better on the training ground.”Alves told tipsbladet.dk."

With Alves prepared to put in the hard yards on the training ground, it may not be long until he makes that move from the bench on to the pitch. Since the United game, Diop has formed a good partnership with Dawson, which will be hard for anyone to break into. But Alves should not be disheartened.

Something else that could present an opportunity for Alves is West Ham’s chances of qualifying for Europe this season. If the Hammers do qualify for either the Champions League or Europa League, then Alves could become a key rotational member of the squad with the added games in the schedule.

There is an exciting amount of talent coming from the academy of football at the moment, all of whom seem keen to replicate Declan Rice. Jamaal Baptiste, Aji Alese, Harrison Ashby, Emmanuel Longelo and Nathan Trott have all made first-team appearances this season and have looked very promising.