West Ham just paid something over twenty million pounds to bring el Hadji Malick Diouff to the London Stadium. And pretty good value that looks, from his first forty five minutes in a West Ham shirt. Pacy, attacking, willing to run for the full 45 minutes that he was on the pitch: Just what jaded weary Hammers fans needed.
And exactly the same can be said of Callum Marshall. And they’re almost exactly the same age. We value one twenty year old at £20 million, and yet the other – one month older – we see as ‘just’ an academy graduate. Maybe that’s about to change. If he gets his chance.
Graham Potter’s decision not to buy-in a senior striker may just be the opportunity Marshall needs to step up into first team success. He learned a lot whilst on loan in the third tier: Remember also that in January 2024, a little over a year ago, before he got his big chance, El Hadji Malick Diouff was playing for Tromsø in the Norwegian first division (main pic) in front of capacity crowds of 7500 people.
18 months later and he’s a Premier League star in the making
There is no reason why, given the opportunity, that Marshall cannot replicate the younger Diouff’s success, given a manager who believes in him, coaches him and allows him to flourish without destroying his confidence: And with the news of ‘no striker purchases‘ today, possibly Graham Potter is just such a manager.
Even if, as we all suspect, Potter does get a ‘freebie’ striker to -ahem-‘help out’ before the end of the window, Callum Marshall can still shine: The next three games maybe friendlies but for Marshall they are gold plated opportunities to ram home his claim for that senior squad place. Worth getting up at midnight to watch? Oh yes.
And the best part? Even if he doesn’t get the nod this season, a year long-loan in the championship will really knock him into shape to come back in 12 months time and do the business.
A great article Martin, spot on, if we encourage our youngsters and give them opportunities, they will take it with both hands & flourish.
Marshall was the most prolific academy scorer I’ve ever known in West Ham development teams. He was scoring at the rate of 1.7 goals per 90 minutes I think I read somewhere. Better than Jermaine Defoe at academy level the only question is can he transition to first team football as well as Defoe did or will he be more Freddie Sears. Personally I think he’s got every chance of making it. The thing that sets him apart I think is his work rate. That’s a great thing to have as a striker. If you’re constantly making runs and gambling on chances eventually things are going to start falling for you.
Hoping he stays and gets lots of time on the pitch this season. If we don’t sign a striker it’s a no brainer, if we do still think he should stay and be given last 10 minutes of league games and starts for cup games, after all it’s becoming more of a squad game than a team game now.
A certain Tony Cottee was given a chance against Spurs when only 17. He scored the winner and the rest is history
He is no Tony Cottee though who was a prolific goalscorer from the age of 9 through all age groups right up to first team.