As far as Mark Noble is concerned, West Ham United’s next generation need look no further than the Premier League club’s own training ground for inspiration.
Just last week, baby-faced Brazilian Luis Guilherme opened up on his plans for a successful second season at Rush Green.
The £25 million signing from Palmeiras started only one top-flight match in 2025/26. He is clearly a man desperate to impress, though. Luis Guilherme was excellent against Everton off the bench in Chicago, adapting impressively to an unfamiliar wing-back role as Lucas Paqueta and Niclas Fullkrug secured West Ham United their first of two wins in the Premier League Summer Series.
Speaking of Paqueta, Guilherme admits that the ‘incredible’ Paqueta has been a big help off the pitch in the English capital.
And Mark Noble, a man who knows a thing or two about leading by example, is hoping that the former Flamengo, AC Milan and Lyon playmaker can prove just as influential in the respective rises of Preston Fearon, Freddie Potts, Lewis Orford, Callum Marshall and co in the coming months.
While Jarrod Bowen is largely accepted as an elite-level forward these days, meanwhile, Noble places Paqueta in the ‘world-class’ bracket too.
Mark Noble says West Ham United star Lucas Paqueta is one of the world’s best
Alongside Guilherme, Fearon, Potts, Orford and Marshall have all made impressive contributions during pre-season.
Jarrod Bowen labelled Preston Fearon a ‘special’ talent, having become a victim of the teenager’s trademark nutmegs on the training pitch. Freddie Potts was a ‘class act’ in that Everton win; dictating the play from deep while snapping into a few bone-rattling challenges.
Orford has contributed a few eye-catching cameos too, while Callum Marshall was likened to Jamie Vardy shortly after scoring with a laser-like finish the Leicester legend himself would have been proud of in the 3-1 victory over Grasshopper Zurich in mid-July.
“[The youngsters] have got enough pressure as it is. To perform at this level is so hard, so we want them to enjoy the football,” Noble, the iconic captain who now works as the club’s sporting director, tells the official West Ham website.
“We want them to train with some of the best players in the world, because that’s what someone like Lucas Paqueta is. [Our young players should] learn from that and then hopefully they become West Ham players.
“I was there as a 17, 18-year-old once. So why can’t they go and do it?”
Graham Potter says Paqueta is ‘committed’ to West Ham cause
Hammers News have been informed that Lucas Paqueta is open to staying at West Ham for at least one more season after the Brazil international was acquitted of spot-fixing offences last week.
Graham Potter confirmed as much ahead of another magnetic Paqueta display in Atlanta, Georgia; Niclas Fullkrug and Jarrod Bowen scoring from a pair of devilish El Hadji Malick Diouf deliveries in a 2-0 triumph over AFC Bournemouth.
“You never know for sure because anything can happen in the window with anybody,” Potter said. “[But] Lucas is happy and committed. He is an important person in dressing room and at the club, and we love him.
“We just want to help him enjoy his football.”
“Since the first day of this investigation, I have maintained my innocence against these extremely serious accusations,” an emotional Paqueta wrote in an official statement marking the end of a two-year trial.
“I can’t say anything more at this time, but I would like to express how grateful I am to God and how eager I am to return to playing football with a smile on my face.
“To my wife who never let go of my hand, to West Ham United, to the fans who always cheered me on, and to my family, friends and the legal team who have supported me.
“Thank you for everything.”
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