WHZ View: West Ham could save money by promoting academy starlet Coventry
West Ham currently have two of the best centre-midfielders in the Premier League in Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek.
The duo has arguably developed the best partnership in the top-flight. Rice has been skippering the side in the absence of Mark Noble, whilst Soucek is our top scorer with nine league goals.
Their consistency has come at the right time for the Hammers – we arent exactly blessed with options in the middle of the park. Noble has been a fantastic servant to the club, but he confirmed earlier this month that he’ll be calling time on his career after next season.
It begs the question – who do the Hammers sign to replace Noble? Maybe, it’s not a matter of bringing anyone in. We could have a suitable replacement already in our ranks.
Conor Coventry has been turning heads in the Premier League 2 competition over the past two seasons. The Under-23s captain led his side to the Division Two crown in the 2019/20 campaign. The Hammers youngsters were undefeated in their 18 league matches, winning 14 whilst scoring 58 goals.
Now in the First Division of the development league, Coventry is having another good season. So far he’s scored six goals in 15 matches, including two games in the EFL Trophy and one in the EFL Cup [Transfermarkt].
He played a starring role on Saturday evening. Coventry made one and scored a belter in the 3-1 victory over Leicester City. He followed this up by receiving his first call up to the Ireland national side – before playing a single minute of Premier League football.
David Moyes has clearly been impressed by the youngster. He’s been included in the matchday squads to face Sheffield United and Manchester United within the last month, but is yet to get on.
He hasn’t actually featured for the first team since his debut in September 2018. The Hammers thrashed Macclesfield Town 8-0 in the league cup.
Coventry is a very similar footballer to Noble. A deeper-lying player with an eye for a pass, and loves to put a foot in. With the skipper set to call time on his career, the young Irishman would be the perfect replacement to come into the senior squad.
Turning 21 years old today, he’s also shown a lot of maturity in his young career. Leading the development squad to the league title is no easy feat. Not many West Ham players can say they’ve lifted silverware.
It appears to be only a matter of time until he makes his Premier League debut. With the way things are going, maybe he’ll get some minutes towards the end of the season. Don’t be surprised to see him in and around the side a lot more next season though. We’re expecting big things from him.
In other West Ham news, will the Hammers sign a goalkeeper this summer?