West Ham United make Airidas Golambeckis contract announcement
Airidas Golambeckis has signed his first professional contract at West Ham United, the club has confirmed.
The 17-year-old put pen to paper on a new Hammers deal on his birthday at Rush Green with his parents and brother in attendance.
In the summer, the centre-back became a full-time Academy scholar, making 10 appearances for the Under-18s, and has earned an England youth call-up.
West Ham United announce Airidas Golambeckis contract
Over the years, the academy has given the Irons some memorable names like Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Rio Ferdinand.
Mark Noble also made his way through the youth ranks at West Ham and went on to become a club legend and icon at Upton Park and the London Stadium.
Declan Rice is another midfielder the Hammers can boast of developing, with the England international moving to Arsenal in the summer of 2023 for a club-record £105 million fee [Sky Sports, July 2023].
But lately, the Irons have seemed to deviate from the path of including their youth players in the first-team setup, leading to potential stars like Jamal Baptiste leaving the club.
Kaelan Casey has shown his talent in the youth sides and with the senior squad, but the 20-year-old hasn’t been given many opportunities in the first team.
With West Ham signing Konstantinos Mavropanos, Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo recently, it seems unlikely that Golambeckis and Casey will be able to make a case for themselves at the club any time soon.
Considering the performance Todibo put in against Nottingham Forest in the 3-0 defeat, Julen Lopetegui needs to rethink the inclusion of the youngsters in the team.
In other West Ham news, the team could be without Mohammed Kudus for an additional game.
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