Completely forgotten January signing Luizao has been spotted training with the West Ham first team ahead of Brentford.
West Ham head to west London to face Brentford on Sunday afternoon with all eyes on the starting XI.
The Hammers have expended a lot of energy of late, particularly in the last week.
West Ham beat Man United 1-0 last weekend to all but officially secure Premier League survival.
And they came from behind on Thursday night to beat AZ Alkmaar in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final.
The tie is still very much in the balance. And the second leg in Holland on Thursday night is one of the biggest games in the club’s modern history.
David Moyes will need all his key players fit and firing for that match against that young, energetic AZ team.
Completely forgotten January signing Luizao seen training with West Ham first team ahead of Brentford
So the Scot is expected to make wholesale changes for Brentford.
Angelo Ogbonna missed training and the Alkmaar clash this week through illness and is a doubt for Brentford.
The situation looks to have opened the door for one player in particular.
Completely forgotten January signing Luizao has been seen training with the West Ham first team ahead of Brentford.
There was excitement around the capture of the 20-year-old centre-back on a free transfer from Sao Paulo in January.
Luizao is said to be highly rated in Brazil.
Could Brazilian get squad chance due to Ogbonna illness?
A slight dampener was put on Luizao’s arrival when West Ham confirmed the 6ft 2in young star was being signed initially for the club’s development team.
The hope – as with any player in the academy – is clearly that Luizao will progress and become part of the first team squad.
After the January window Premier League clubs are required to submit updated squad lists for the remainder of the campaign.
We can confirm Luizao was registered with the Premier League. He is registered under his full name Luiz Gustavo Oliveira Da Silva.
And now it looks like the Brazilian centre-back could be in the squad for the game at Brentford.
Eagle-eyed fans will spot the defender in club video
Eagle-eyed West Ham fans will spot Luizao in video posted online by the Hammers’ media team.
Luizao can be seen briefly six seconds into the video, standing on the left as Divin Mubama greets Flynn Downes before a training session at Rush Green.
The defender is seen again behind fellow Brazil-born Emerson on 11 seconds as the West Ham players do a touch drill.
Luizao very briefly creeps into shot on the right on 48 seconds.
It will be fascinating to see if he gets a chance – even if from the bench – against the Bees.
The Brazilian – who can play in a two or a three at the back – told Moyes he is hungry to progress to the first team squad as soon as possible and laid out what he can bring to the side.
You can see the full video in the post below.
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