Young Hammer Joe Powell has given himself another 12 months to catch the eye of Manuel Pelegrini and make an  impact on the first team squad.

The midfielder has signed a new one year deal and told www.whufc.com: “I’ve been involved quite a lot, training with the squad, both before and after my loan, so I would say I am close, but it’s about taking that next step.

“I’m delighted as I’ve got another year now to try and prove myself and hopefully this is the one where I push on into the first-team squad

“I can’t wait for pre-season to start now and hopefully I can have a much better season than I did last year, then West Ham will want me to stay for the long term.”

 

The east Londoner joined the Academy at the age of eight, signing his first professional contract in January 2015 and a new three-year deal in summer 2016.

He said: “The best way to look at it is, if I do well then my Club does well. I’d love to get games and if I’m playing well and West Ham are winning then that would be brilliant.

“I’ve been involved quite a lot, training with the squad, both before and after my loan, so I would say I am close, but it’s about taking that next step.

“I’ve got myself as close as I can be, but now I need to take that hardest step, which is to establish myself in the first-team squad.

“Honestly, I think personally, if I was thrown in at the deep end then I would perform. Opportunity is a massive thing for young players and I am a massive believer in my own ability, so I would like to think I would be able to play first-team football the way I am now.

“Obviously I am not perfect and there is room for improvement, but I think I’d give it a good go!”