Pre-season equals opportunity for those West Ham United prospects hoping to catch the eye of the coaching staff and secure themselves a place in Nuno Espirito Santo’s plans next season.
Who will be 2026’s answer to Freddie Potts, for instance?
Potts showed his ‘class’ during West Ham’s tour of the USA 12 months ago. Flash forward to the present day, and the Barking-born midfielder heads into the latest pre-season looking to build on what was a breakout campaign consisting of 22 Premier League appearances. An opportunity he grabbed with both hands, starting with a couple of eye-catching displays across the pond.
Can you spot anything interesting as West Ham return for pre-season?
Taty returns, Nuno chats with Bowen, and a couple of youngsters make an appearance
Ezra Mayers, George Earthy and Josh Ajala are among the youngsters who may fancy their chances of some first-team involvement this time around.
But keep an eye out for Andre Dike; the West Ham United winger who, throughout much of last season, looked head and shoulders above the rest at Under-18 level.
Andre Dike hopes to catch Nuno’s eye at West Ham United
As West Ham returned for the start of their summer training earlier this week, the eagle-eyed among you may have spotted Andre Dike make a brief appearance.
Mayers was spotted being put through his paces, sweating alongside fellow centre-back Airidas Golambeckis on the exercise bikes. Mohamadou Kante could be seen chatting with fellow Frenchman Soungoutou Magassa. Pablo Felipe and Alphonse Areola have clearly spent some of the off-season in the salons, meanwhile; new year, new look.
Oliver Casey returns following a couple of difficult loan spells at Swansea City and Leyton Orient. The exit-linked Taty Castellanos is back at Rush Green – for now – alongside the similarly-coveted Konstantinos Mavropanos.
But as Crysencio Summerville enjoys an extended break following the Netherlands’ World Cup exit at the hands of Morocco, Dike may fancy his chances of getting a couple of minutes under his belt alongside the seniors in Nuno’s squad.
England U17 whizzkid Dike recorded 20 goal contributions for West Ham in 2025/26. Sixteen goals and four assists from the right-wing in 32 appearances. Dike opened his account at U21 level after dominating the U18s, and should look to consolidate his spot in Greg Lincoln’s side next term at the very least.
There are shades of Jarrod Bowen in Dike. See his fabulous effort in a 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace in November; Dike cuts inside from the right onto his left foot and curls the ball into the corner. That became something of a trademark finisher move for a winger whose stand-out performance came when scoring a 94th minute winner in a seven-goal thriller against Arsenal in the spring.
“The idea is always to expose our Under-18s to the demands of the higher age groups,” Zavon Hines, West Ham’s U21 assistant coach, said a few months back when asked about Dike’s progression behind the scenes.
“Andre has been one of our top players in the Under-18s and we want to give him more opportunities at Under-21s level. He deserves more opportunities.”
Alvin Martin backs Hammers starlets to shine in the Championship
The fixtures are out! How many points do West Ham NEED in the first 5 games?
Turf Moor is a tough start…
He’ll most certainly get them. At what level, though, remains to be seen. Should Dike make an impression in the upcoming friendlies against Southend United and Stevenage, then who knows what the season could have in store for him?
Hammers legend Alvin Martin certainly feels that relegation may be a good thing for homegrown prospects waiting in the wings for a chance to come their way.
“We have got some younger players now who will look at this as a great opportunity for them to play,” the 1980 FA Cup winner tells talkSPORT. “The Premier League is a very difficult place to blood and develop youngsters.
“I’m not saying the Championship isn’t a tough league – it will be a really tough league – but I think we will see some younger players getting the chance to play.”
After taking on Southend and Stevenage, West Ham will travel north of the border to face Rangers at Ibrox. They will also take in a trip to Germany – FC Magdeburg to come in early-August – before kicking off the season against Portsmouth in the EFL Cup.
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