West Ham loanee Rayan Oyebade involved in ‘crazy conclusion’ as Southend suffer defeat

West Ham’s Rayan Oyebade was on the losing side as Southend United lost 4-2 to Barrow.

The 19-year-old has been sent to the National League side to further his development, rather than playing academy football.

The Rush Green youngster has played eight times in the league so far for the non-league outfit.

Six of those appearances have been in the starting line-up, so he has won Kieron Dyer’s trust very quickly.

Nuno Espirito Santo will be keen to see him progress in his first taste of senior football away from the London Stadium.

The Greece Under-19 ace was involved in the insane scenes at the end of the contest, that may leave the Irons with concerns.

What happened to Rayan Oyebade in Southend United loss?

The centre-back played the full 90 minutes at Roots Hall, but could not prevent his side from losing.

They were 3-1 down after 84 minutes, and a 92nd minute penalty from Leon Chambers-Parillon brought hope of a comeback.

However, Oyebade was involved as those dreams were dashed by a Daniel Mooney strike in the 94th minute.

Southend Echo reporter Chris Phillips claimed on his X page that the Hammers academy ace was “outmuscled” before Mooney curled home.

His post-match report labelled it as a “crazy conclusion” to the contest.

Why Odebaye faces a huge fight for West Ham berth

Odebaye will be hoping to have a similar rise to Oliver Scarles in E20, but he needs to play better for that to happen.

If he is getting outmuscled by National League strikers, then he has little chance of making an impression on Nuno.

The aim is for the Hammers to be back in the top-flight next season, which will only increase the quality of attackers that they will be facing.

If he can't handle players who are not even Football League quality, then he will struggle at the elite level.

Of course, there is plenty of time for him to develop, but the Irons need to see more physicality if he is be handed an opportunity.

Odebayo is contracted until 2028 with the East London side, so he still has time to change his fortunes, but it will take a big development to convince the hierarchy that he is ready.