David Moyes has indicated that he will remain patient and cautious in bringing through youngsters to the West Ham first team when quizzed about the prospects of inducting Ademipo Odubeko into his plans.
The Irons under-23s striker has stood out at academy level since moving from Manchester United’s academy and as such, has become a much-heralded prospect of the future by some West Ham fans.
Amid a shortage of natural strikers, many have questioned why faith has yet to be placed in the youngster, but Moyes did address those concerns in some illuminating remarks. Speaking to reporters in his pre-Manchester United press conference, Moyes said of Odubeko:
He’s been training with the first team but his biggest problem is he just got back from injury and he had COVID and had to isolate.
My biggest problem is I haven’t seen much of him over the last three months because he had a really bad hamstring injury but he’s back training and I’ve been quite impressed by him daily.
He’s getting closer but I just need to see a bit more of him. He scored a couple of goals (against Southampton Under-23s). I watched the game and I’ve been pleased with him.
If the opportunities came along where I felt there was a chance to introduce him in some way, I wouldn’t be against doing so.
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It should come as encouraging news that Odubeko is at least making an impression on Moyes, with the manager making a personal effort to observe the young marksman.
Injury, rather than simply not impressing the manager, appears to be the main contributing factor in explaining why Moyes has yet to allow fans to see the promising striker in action at first team level.
Nobody will want to see Odubeko placed under further duress through risk of aggravating an injury, and Moyes’ caution errs on the sensible side.
