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.”
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!”