West Ham United lost two of the brightest young talents in their Under-21 set-up during the winter transfer window; Elisha Sowunmi leaving for Tottenham Hotspur and Emeka Adiele joining FC Utrecht.
This is not a particularly novel development, though.
Clubs up and down the land often see exciting teenage prospects pursue moves elsewhere in order to fast-track their development. When announcing his departure from West Ham United on transfer deadline day, left-sided assist-machine Emeka Adiele opened up on his Eredivisie switch, pointing out that Utrecht were offering first-team opportunities the Londoners simply could not match.
Emeka Adiele’s shock exit has divided our readers! 🤔
How do YOU feel about it?
West Ham’s youth teams themselves are made up of budding professionals who started out in other academies. Tomas Jonyla left Crystal Palace before moving to East London. Chuk Obi and Luis Brown were at Arsenal, while Josh Ajala and Preston Fearon joined the Hammers from Chelsea.
So while the temptation may be to look back at JJ Gabriel’s time in claret and blue with a pang of regret – the Manchester United whizzkid is arguably English football’s next big thing – it is worth keeping in mind that moves of this type are pretty common, especially in those pre-scholarship years.
- Sign up for free here to tell us how you feel about the state of West Ham’s academy!
JJ Gabriel’s father shows Manchester United wonderkid in his West Ham days
Enfield-born England Under-16 starlet JJ Gabriel had stints with West Ham, Arsenal and Chelsea before settling at Manchester United.
The 15-year-old’s father this week posted a few grainy clips of his son weaving through the opposition in West Ham’s academy, via The Talent Hunt3r on X. Clips the type of which will make for pretty familiar viewing for Man United fans who have been enthralled by Gabriel’s rapid rise in the North West.
Thumping strikes into the top corner, leaving defenders for dead and quite simply looking miles above the level – even when he was so small the football nearly reached knee-height – you do not need to be a seasoned academy coach to spot the extraordinary talent which drew comparisons to Neymar, Lamine Yamal and Wayne Rooney, not to mention former West Ham wonderkid Joe Cole.
“[Man United] have got a kid called JJ Gabriel. I know you’ve heard of him. Wow. He’s got a massive chance. Massive,” Rio Ferdinand, another Hammers academy graduate, said on his Rio Presents YouTube channel.
“He’s the one who could be mentioned alongside Rio [Ngumoha of Liverpool] and [Arsenal’s] Max Dowman. He’s the next one, I’m telling you.
“These kids have got confidence I don’t think that lads in our generation [had]. Only the likes of Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and Joe Cole. [Gabriel] sounds very similar.”
Gabriel could be Man United’s youngest-ever Premier League debutant
While still only 15, Gabriel continues to make mincemeat of those years above him. He’s scored 11 goals in 16 games for the Under-18s this season and has been spotted on numerous occasions training with the Red Devils’ first team.
There seems to be a very real chance that he will replace Angel Gomes – now of Wolves – as the youngest Premier League debutant in Man United’s history.
Have we left anyone out of our West Ham ACADEMY star XI?
Who do YOU think is the cream of the current youth team crop?
“JJ is a fantastic talent,” Darren Fletcher, who worked with Gabriel for the U18s, said during his brief stint as Man United’s interim coach in January. “I’ve enjoyed working with him immensely, getting to know him.
“He’s a young lad with a massive sort of hype, you know, there’s a lot of noise around him and deservedly so because he’s a real talented kid. He works hard.
“First thing I’d say is he loves football. He loves training, he loves playing, he loves having the ball, he loves expressing himself. He makes fantastic decisions. He’s just got an enthusiasm for the game that’s just amazing. A 15-year-old, a bright future ahead of him.
“I’m super excited by his talent, but the most important thing is that he keeps developing, and he’s in the U18 team, and he’s doing fantastically well, but he’s still got lots to learn.
“The world is his oyster and he just needs to go on his journey, and his time will come in due course. But for just now, it’s a little bit early, I think, and I think a lot of people would agree with me.”
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
