West Ham United trio Declan Rice, Ryan Fredericks and Grady Diangana have been presented with commemorative footballs to mark their Premier League debuts.

Academy Director Terry Westley, Hammers hero Carlton Cole and the Premier League’s Games Programme Manager James Westlake were at Rush Green to hand over the Premier League Debut Footballs, which have been presented to all home-grown debutants since the beginning of the 2015/16 season.

Westley said: “We’ve always known about Grady and that’s why we’ve always given him new contracts and kept working with him and he made a real impact on his first-team debut in the Carabao Cup game and then followed that by getting on in the Premier League against Manchester United.

“He can beat people and that’s a trait going out of the game. Some people play safe, but Grady is someone who can go past people and make things happen and he’s shown that it in front of the manager and the first team staff.

“I think Grady and Declan both single-mindedly work at their games. They rev it up every day and don’t just come in and go home at 12 o’clock, and it’s no coincidence that they’re the two who are pushing on. They are fine examples to all our young players.

“I think this is a fine gesture because it marks an unbelievable challenge now to get a game in the Premier League. This needs to be the start, as when you’ve played 50 or 100 games you can say you’re a Premier League player.”

. (Photo by Arfa Griffiths/West Ham United via Getty Images)

And Carlton said of Fredericks: ” “Ryan knows the game, he’s an experienced pro and has had a fair amount of games at a high level and he wants to get back into the first-team setup now. Once he gets in there, he has got to show what he can do and stay there. He’s got the minerals for it, so I know he’ll be OK.”