Still the transfer rumours persist linking West Ham with Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell. Amongst the ‘to do list’ entries sitting on head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay’s desk in his first week, there are likely to be far more pressing priorities.
From head coach Graham Potter’s fledgling selection policy, West Ham already look likely to reap the rewards of his faith in youth. Potter has already given more minutes to academy-trained players than Lopetegui did in his whole chaotic six month stint.
Looking every inch a future starlet, Ollie Scarles came on from the substitutes’ bench at a crucial point in the game. The 19 year old did not disappoint and did everything needed to earn praise from his coach and onlookers. His tackling was sublime. Speaking after the youngster’s appearance in the earlier FA Cup match against Aston Villa, Potter said “We felt it was a good time to play him and he was really impressive. The next challenge is developing him from where he is now into a Premier League player, and that’s the exciting bit.”
From yesterday’s extended cameo, that journey of developing Scarles is well under way. His immediate impact with well timed tackles on Aston Villa’s forwards generated ‘he’s one of our own’ singing from the West Ham away fans who clearly see him as a great source of pride and potential.
At this rate, another six months under Potter’s tutelage and he’ll be challenging for the starting berth. With Emerson and Cresswell already in the squad, Ollie Scarles’ development towards becoming a budding Premier League starter means there is no need for West Ham to spend on strengthening their left-sided defence options this window.
With the likes of Ben Chilwell – even on a loan option – earning £225k a week at Chelsea, Scarles’ emergence will save West Ham millions over the next six months of his development. That means money which can be spent bolstering the front line where, sadly, there is not an academy player ready any time soon to emulate Scarles and his team mates Lewis Orford’s and Kaelan Casey’s progress towards first team football.
