West Ham United complete signing of Josh Briggs – ExWHUemployee
West Ham United have completed the signing of young defender Josh Briggs from Nothern Ireland, according to ExWHUemployee.
Writing via his Patreon account on Saturday night (6 August), the reliable Irons insider reported that after a “successful trial period,” the 16-year-old is set to sign officially at the London Stadium.
David Moyes has been busy adding to the senior squad this summer but West Ham’s youth squads have also been boosted by the arrivals of Callum Marshall, Patrick Kelly and now Briggs.
Untapped market?
It seems as though West Ham are trying to tap more into the Northern Irish market when it comes to bolstering the youth ranks in East London.
Marshall and Kelly, who’ve already signed for the Irons, are Northern Ireland youth internationals like Briggs, who’s recently been on international duty for their Under-17s.
Last month, Briggs also played for West Ham’s Under-19s as they beat Crystal Palace and Tottenham on their way to winning the 2022 Next Gen Cup.
Not every trialist gets a chance to win silverware before he’s signed a proper contract so there’s no doubt that would have played a role in the decision-making behind Briggs’ recruitment.
We’ll have to keep one eye on his progress and it’s the same with Marshall and Kelly because the Hammers clearly seem to think there’s untapped potential in the Northern Irish youth system.
There have been some great players from that part of the UK over the years but it’s fair to say that the standard of quality in their national team has dropped lately.
Still, we’d have done well to get players like Jonny Evans and Steven Davis in their prime.