Newcastle United have added another Premier League prospect to their Academy, with West Ham’s Ezra Tika-Lemba becoming the latest addition to the Toon’s ever-increasing portfolio.
The winger is one of several additions to arrive over the past few weeks, as Newcastle looks to hoover up young talent. Aaron Epia (Everton) and Kayden Lucas (Clevedon Town) signed scholarship deals on Tyneside along with highly regarded midfielder CJ Afumuzor (Portsmouth).
This type of transfer merry-go-round is reasonably commonplace at this time of year as teams look to recruit players who have not been offered terms at parent clubs. Only last week, West Ham announced the signing of Arsenal youth captain Luis Brown following a period of assessment at Chadwell Heath.
The Hammers also signed exciting Manchester City trickster David Chigwada, who signed his West Ham contract after leaving the Premier League champions.
So, while it’s disappointing to lose promising young players to rivals, it’s something that happens to every club. Historically, there have been some huge names who were at West Ham’s academy yet moved elsewhere.
John Terry was once a highly regarded midfielder in the Hammers youth ranks before moving to Chelsea, but fittingly, West Ham managed to poach Declan Rice from our London rivals in a reverse move.
It remains to be seen whether Tika-Lemba will make the grade for Newcastle, but West Ham’s academy will have more than compensated for his absence.