Daniel Feliciano

Tue 5 July 2022 12:40, UK

West Ham are planning to loan out four youngsters for more regular first-team football during this summer window, according to ExWHUemployee.

The Hammers are looking to bolster their own first-team squad this summer in order to improve on their 7th placed Premier League finish from last season.

That means opportunities for youngsters could be limited and the club are keen to allow players to leave for regular first-team football on a temporary basis, with Ex telling West Ham Way podcast [July 4] that there are four players in particular likely to go.

“Players like [Armstrong] Okoflex, [Harrison] Ashby maybe, [Aji] Alese and [Jamal] Baptiste will be offered out on loan to clubs this window,” he said.

“It’s just whether we can get a decent move for them because the club are a bit apprehensive with what happened to some of the players like Connor Coventry when their first loan move didn’t work out for them and they had to cancel them and send them to other clubs.

“So they want to get those loan moves done correctly.”

Smart

It seems as though the club are learning from previous mistakes, but not letting them cause the club any stress when making decisions.

The club have made mistakes in the past when selecting loan clubs for their young stars and it has cost the player vital development time, so it’s something to avoid on this occasion.

Okoflex is a big fan favourite and regular first-team football is exactly what he needs, while Ashby has already featured in the first-team under David Moyes.

Alese and Baptiste will likely get a loan move lower down the football pyramid than the other two, but there is plenty of time to ensure that the right deal is found rather than just chucking them out of the door at the first possible opportunity.

Now the club can use pre-season to get a better idea of the players’ abilities and find the perfect move for them and fans can enjoy their development elsewhere before they return to try and break into the team.