West Ham will be sick of the sight of Arsenal after their London rivals stole away another top homegrown midfield talent.
Last year Arsenal paid £105m to sign West Ham captain Declan Rice.
The deal has proved vital to West Ham in terms of overhauling their squad in the time since.
But Rice’s desire to move to Arsenal over Man City rankled with Hammers fans.
Although there has never traditionally been a big rivalry between West Ham and the Gunners, now there certainly is.
The Rice move – and the incessant goading of West Ham fans by their Arsenal counterparts – has made sure of that.
Well now Arsenal have added fuel to the fire it seems.
Not content with taking away their captain and best player, now the Gunners have returned to the scene of the crime to lure away the next Rice.
First it was Rice now Arsenal have swooped to steal the next midfield star away from West Ham as his dad speaks out.
According to The Secret Scout – as also quoted by Yahoo Sport – Arsenal have completed a deal for West Ham’s 15-year-old teenage midfield sensation Kyran Thompson.
It is claimed the Gunners actually saw off competition from Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester City and Newcastle United to sign midfield pass-master Thompson.
According to reports The Gunners and Newcastle presented Thompson with their projects, and he has opted for Arsenal ahead of other suitors after leaving the Hammers.
Kyran has been at West Ham since he was eight and is being tipped to be a star of the future.
First Rice now Arsenal steal next midfield star from West Ham
That won’t be at West Ham, though, as Arsenal lured him to north London instead.
Kyran’s father Karl runs Kent Elite Scouting Academy.
And he took to Instagram with a video message confirming Kyran has now left the Hammers for Arsenal.
He did take time to thank West Ham and praise the Academy, describing it as ‘one of the best in the country’.
“Thank you West Ham for the past seven years and Kyran’s two one-to-one coaches and myself training him,” Karl Thompson said.
“Massive shout out to Nathan and Louis for all the training that has helped this happen. Massive shout out to Euon for his confidence training the past 12 months.”
Dad speaks out as Kyran Thompson leaves Hammers for Gunners
This is becoming an all too common occurrence for West Ham.
Top Academy youngsters are moving to other Premier League clubs at an alarming rate, Arsenal being the latest.
Man City have taken three young players from West Ham in recent seasons too.
That’s not a good look for the self-styled Academy of Foobtall. But as Mark Noble admitted on Rio Ferdinand Presents this week, it’s becoming harder and harder to hold on to the club’s top young talents.
Is it any wonder, though? At West Ham there is no genuine pathway through to first team football anymore. And there hasn’t been for years.
That’s no slight on the work being done in West Ham’s academy. It’s the succession of managers who continually look at results in the short-term rather than the health of the club and giving youngsters a chance for the long term.
The Hammers now officially have the oldest squad in the entire Premier League. Yet young talents are rarely if ever given games in the first team to see what they can do.
Meanwhile Arsenal started four teenagers in their Carabao Cup win over Bolton at the Emirates last night.
Thompson will be hoping he can follow in the footsteps of the likes of Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Jack Porter and Josh Nichols.
Related Topics