Josh Cullen made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland last night against and was named man of the match in the 3-1 friendly victory over Bulgaria,
The Hammers on loan midfielder has been outstanding in Charlton’s opening Championship campaign which has seen them move into second spot behind Swansea City.
With a recall clause in his current deal he can return to the Hammers between January 1 – 14 should he be required and if he maintains the sort of form he has been showing that could be possible if the manager decides to shed any of the current squad.
He was obviously close to clinching a place in the squad with Manuel Pellegrini having leaned that way for a long time in pre-season before allowing him a second spell at The New Valley on deadline day.
The midfielder is desperate to break in as a regular Hammers first team squad member and has made the perfect start to the season in fulfilling his aim.
Elsewhere, Andriy Yarmolenko started and played the opening 58 minutes of his country’s 2-2 draw with Nigeria in Dnipro.
The forward earned his 81st senior cap – he is eighth on the all-time list – in a game where Nigeria took a two-goal half-time lead, before late strikes from Oleksandr Zinchenko and Roman Yaremchuk snatched a share of share of the spoils.
Fantastic to hear. I think we may lose him for nothing and I couldn’t blame him for going to Charlton at the end of the season because Bowyer has shown true faith in him and clearly rates his ability. I still hope we use him, there is a small glimmer considering Sanchez’s contract expires in June. If Cullen were to have an outstanding year, perhaps we may finally give him a proper chance. I couldn’t blame him if he decided against it though.