West Ham striker Xande Silva has been nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award.
The young striker has been featuring for West Ham’s under-23 team in the Premier League 2 and has impressed enough to earn himself a place on the nine-man shortlist for the August Player of the Month accolade.
The 21-year-old netted five goals in just three games in August, following his summer arrival from Vitoria Guimaraes.
Silva endeared himself to fans immediately, scoring a hat-trick on his debut away at rivals Tottenham Hotspur, before finding the net against Manchester City and Arsenal at home.
DAGENHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 19: Xande Silva of West Ham United in action during the Premier League 2 match between West Ham United and Manchester City at Chigwell Construction Stadium on August 19, 2018 in Dagenham, England. (Photo by Avril Husband/West Ham United via Getty Images)
The other names on the award shortlist are Aaron Connolly and Victor Gyokeres (Brighton), Luke Molyneux (Sunderland), Layton Ndukwu (Leicester), Angel Gomes (Manchester United), Tariq Lamptey (Chelsea), Nabil Touaizi Zoubdi (Manchester City) and Danny Loader (Reading).
Given the Portugal youth international’s red hot form, many West Ham fans have been calling for him to be included in the first-team.
Here are some responses after fans found out he had been nominated for this award.
Would love to see what he could do for the first team.
— Dan (@WestHamWazzock) September 4, 2018
Give the lad a chance to settle in please. Yes he’s done well but PL2 is far different from the 1st team. Had the opportunity to see the U23 at LS against Arsenal. He still needs support from midfield to take those chances I’d hate it to see it affect him. Look at Martinez! #COYI
— Kevin (call me Tiger🐅) 🏌️ 🇪🇸🇪🇺⚒⚒⚒ (@kevin_lock1) September 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/NJThompson94/status/1036984037766778881
Another manager that prob won’t even pick him for cup games
— Ungovernable (@WHUlogical) September 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/thelukeholloway/status/1036982510687842304
>Antonio
— WestHam_BulletinNow (@WHUBulletin_Now) September 4, 2018
West Ham’s best signing of the summer
— the irish londoner (@dakinglongwood) September 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/skoda1979/status/1036981997627998209