West Ham United lose another young player as Chelsea make their move
West Ham have suffered yet more academy disappointment as youngster Joel Vida-Philbert has reportedly joined rivals Chelsea.
As per Talk Chelsea reporter Si Phillips, via The Secret Scout on Twitter (6 October), Vida-Philbert has linked up with Chelsea's Under-15s side.
While not a great deal is known about the youngster, it continues a worrying trend in recent times of players being poached by other clubs.
The most recent high-profile examples saw Divine Mukasa and Amara Nallo head to Manchester City and Liverpool respectively.
While those two prospects were further down the line with their development, it may well be that Vida-Philbert was heading the same way.
It means that Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea have all nabbed youngsters from the Hammers in recent months.
That is why it was so refreshing earlier this week when it emerged Daniel Rigge - himself highly rated - is committing his future to West Ham.
This is not exactly a new development. Indeed, Claret & Hugh reported a year ago that United faced a "relentless" battle keeping top talents.
West Ham have themselves taken on players from other academies, such is the way the football food chain works.
But the hope has to be that they can do so while at the same time persuading players of our own to rejects advances from elsewhere.
The best way of doing that is by integrating more younger players into the first-team fold. If not, expect more of the same in the coming months.