The phrase ‘cautionary tale’ is often bandied around whenever a talented young player takes a stumble on the path towards the professional game. But, in the case of former West Ham United starlet Divin Mubama, the term feels appropriate.
Who knows, the 2025/26 campaign might still be one the England Under-21 international looks back on with a sense of pride.
He marked his debut on loan at Stoke City with a first senior league goal in August. Mubama then scored a maiden hat-trick against Bristol City in November, at which point the play-offs were still a realistic aim for Mark Robins’ Potters.
But it’s all been downhill since then. All that early progress very much a footnote in a season which promised so much more.
Out of favour at Stoke, no future at Man City…
What message do you have for Divin Mubama now?
Extremely highly-regarded at West Ham United before his controversial and short-sighted move to Manchester City in 2024, Mubama isn’t even commanding a place in Stoke’s matchday squad these days.
He was booed off against Sheffield United in late-December – Robins pulled no punches, saying Divin Mubama ‘has to be better and understand what is required of him’ – and he wasn’t even given a place on the bench during Stoke’s last three Championship fixtures.
Just to add to the confusion surrounding his West Ham exit – he left having failed to agree a new contract – it is claimed that Man City do not even envisage a future role for Mubama in their plans.
Ex-West Ham United kid Divin Mubama out of favour at Stoke City
If the youngster could turn back the clock to 2024/25, when he made five Premier League outings under David Moyes, one wonders how Mubama would approach those contract talks now.
“How many of our youngsters thought that the grass was greener but faded into obscurity?” one Hammers News reader asks on our Facebook page; far from the only supporter to label this a classic case of a young, unproven talent falling into the ‘too much, too soon’ trap.
“It’s all about their agents wanting to start earning as much as they can out of them as soon as they can, instead of staying where they were to develop,” another argues.
“He may go on to improve, he is still young, I wish him well for the future. But yes, he did seem to be in a rush.”
“An unfortunate case, yet again, of a player believing his own hype and thinking he’s better than the club. We all make mistakes, unfortunately I don’t think there’s any way back for him now.”
“Why did Man City buy him? I don’t get it.”
“The grass isn’t always greener, even though the money may be better.”
Mubama suffers the same fate as Sonny Perkins and Harrison Ashby
A warning, then, to the current generation of youth-team talents. Josh Ajala, Preston Fearon, Airidas Golambeckis and co; sometimes, patience really is a virtue.
Mubama is not the only one to stroll down the wrong path.
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Harrison Ashby is yet to feature for Newcastle United since he, too, turned down a contract extension in favour of a switch to a Premier League rival in 2023. Jeremy Ngakia is playing Championship football with Watford.
And, four years after Sonny Perkins beat Cole Palmer and Alejandro Garnacho to a Player of the Month award while in West Ham’s academy, the striker is now at third-tier Leyton Orient via Leeds.
“Under Moyes, people were screaming at him to play Mubama, Sonny Perkins, Harrison Ashby…” another fan points out. “Well, it’s been proven that none of them were good enough.”
“On the night that our U17s won the Premier League Cup [Luke Smith’s West Ham beat Blackburn Rovers 3-2 to secure silverware on Wednesday] it is a clear message; Ngakia, Perkins, Ashby all had agents that knew better than our club’s development process.”
“My biggest disappointment was Harrison Ashby. He started a few games under Moyes, and Kenny Brown said he was one of our brightest prospects. Head turned by Newcastle, loaned out time and time again. Last season on loan to QPR, and my friend who is a QPR season ticket holder said he was a big disappointment.”
“Despite a bit of pushback, I can’t think of any recent young players we’ve let go who have gone on to make it big elsewhere. Might be wrong though.”
“I mean, how many of our academy prospects recently have actually done well? [Declan] Rice and [Burnley’s Josh] Cullen are the only ones playing regular Premier League football. The rest that left are languishing in the lower leagues after thinking they are better than they are.”
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