Liverpool and Manchester City are reportedly both monitoring the situation surrounding English wonderkid Ajibola Alese at West Ham United.
The Sun are claiming that Liverpool and Manchester City are showing interest in West Ham United wonderkid Ajibola Alese. The scholar is rated as one of the hottest prospects within around his age group in England and is now on the radar of two of the biggest clubs in England, as the Hammers fight to keep the player in London.
16-year-old Alese’s talents aren’t hidden from the English clubs. The player is already the captain of the Three Lions’ Under-16 side and is a regular face in the Hammers’ Under-18 side. The defender is reportedly set to make the Under-23 side for West Ham as well before the end of the season.
Despite all this, Alese is still on scholarship forms at the Olympic Stadium, which means that the player is susceptible to direct offers from potential suitors. West Ham United are fully aware of the interest in the player and are keen to tie him down to a professional contract, to secure his immediate and near future with them.
City and Liverpool want to sign West Ham & England U16 defender Ajibola Alese (16), rated as one of England’s best young talents. [The Sun] pic.twitter.com/xCmiohZXYe
— City Watch (@City_Watch) March 1, 2017
Manchester City have always delved into the market and looked at academies of other clubs to recruit the best talents for their own youth setup, which is starting to earn them glorifying results, with a star-studded academy setup at Etihad.
Liverpool, on the other hand, have shown that they are open to play players irrespective of their nascent age, which has prompted many to see the Reds as the best place among the top clubs to break into the first-team.
Klopp has given several academy graduates a chance at Anfield and, as his managerial career has panned out everywhere he has been, the German is likely to continue his policy of promoting the youth.
West Ham United, though, are not too shoddy at producing young talents either, a shining example of which can be found in Reece Oxford – who has been on the radar of Manchester United and Manchester City for a long time after breaking into the first-team under Slaven Bilic.
Another example, though not nurtured by them, is Domingos Quina, who arrived from Chelsea last summer and has now successfully broken into the first-team setup, becoming a regular name in the matchday squads with appearances in the Europa League as well.
U18: Congratulations to 14 year old Ajibola Alese, who starts for @whufc_official U18 for the first time today! Fantastic achievement #WHU18
— Tommy Wathen (@tommywathen) November 14, 2015
Alese’s outrageous talent is also well documented within the West Ham United setup, with the player debuting in the Under-18 squad as a mere 14-year-old back in 2015 and being capped by the England Under-15s from the time he was a 13-year-old.
Alese could see the examples of Quina and Oxford and attempt to walk into their footsteps under Slaven Bilic. Also, West Ham United currently represent the best chance to break into the first-team; certainly more so than at Liverpool or Manchester City.
It would be intriguing to see how this develops and whether the Hammers are able to secure Alese’s future at West Ham United. The defender, though, looks set to have a bright career in football and is likely to be a future first-teamer soon, be it at West Ham or anywhere else.