For every Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Declan Rice – three of the greatest West Ham United graduates – there are countless youngsters who, for whatever reason, fall agonisingly short.
Take Lamar Aaron, for instance.
Aaron spent eleven years with West Ham United and even trained with the first-team on occasions. As he explained on his Instagram page a few months back, though, the double-blow of rupturing his ACL shortly after being released by the Hammers ‘taught me more than the academy ever did’.
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He would also call into question what he felt was a lack of guidance and honesty in the youth game.
Now, via the Ball and Live podcast, Aaron is keen to ensure that the same fate does not befall the current generation of West Ham hopefuls.
Former West Ham United prospect Lamar Aaron gives advice
Aaron talks up the importance of pre-season and preparation, highlighting the work Phil Foden has been filmed doing on the training pitches following the end of the club campaign and his omission from England’s World Cup squad.
“For most footballers, it’s off-season. There are a few people that don’t even take the off-season seriously,” Aaron says. “For me personally, off-season is not just about your time off. It’s a preparation and a transition.
“You are going to that next phase of your life. I understand that there’s two sides to this, but this could be the only opportunity [young players] get.”
Freddie Potts impressed during West Ham’s tour of the USA last summer. He would be rewarded with his Premier League debut a few weeks later. Lewis Orford, Josh Ajala and Daniel Cummings look well-placed to continue their progress with the Hammers twelve months on, meaning the pre-season tour of 2026 opens up a potential window of opportunity.
The sort of opportunity Lamar Aaron may wish he could have again.
“Off-season is a transition period,” Aaron adds. “You got players who have just left the academy and they’re now joining the scholarship year. They are going from part-time to full-time.
“You have players who have been on their scholarship seasons, they’ve now signed their first-year pros. You are now at the start of that dream becoming reality.
“Some players are being released and you’re now going to new clubs where the home is different, the environment’s different, things are now changing. Again, it’s a transition period.
“However, this conversation comes because there are a few people that don’t even take the off-season seriously. There are players that look at it as a place where they can just chill, they can have time off.
“But from my time at West Ham’s Academy, you realise that the off-season is important.
“We see players like Phil Foden, who didn’t even make the World Cup, who’s now finished the Premier League season, he’s doing off-season [training] already. You look at his social media, you see him training.
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“Not only that, you get to see players like Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashford who all finished the season, all had long seasons. The football calendar is getting bigger and bigger. They’ve all had long seasons, but yet they still prepared for the World Cup.
“Most people would look at that and say, ‘Why don’t you rest? Why don’t you recover? Why don’t you take your time, prepare yourself to be able to go to a World Cup?’ But again, their preparation was putting the work in.
“It’s making sure that they’re sharp. Making sure that they’re ready. Unfortunately, there’s just a lot of people that don’t see that when it comes to off-season.”
Pre-season looms for Hammers kids as the World Cup continues
Airidas Golambeckis, Preston Fearon, Finlay Herrick and Rayan Oyabede are among the other West Ham youngsters who will be hoping to catch Nuno’s eye.
“There are so many opportunities when it comes to the pre-season time,” Aaron says. “So many opportunities, especially when you get to that period of time where you are closer and closer to the first-team.
“A lot of main first team players won’t even be back in time for when pre-season starts [El Hadji Malick Diouf, Tomas Soucek, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Crysencio Summerville are on World Cup duty].
“Guess who’s going to be given the opportunity to now train and prove their worth? You.”
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