There were some very high profile departures from West Ham United this summer as the clear out netted close to £200 million in much needed transfer fees to pay down the club’s enormous debt.
Freddie Potts, Mateus Fernandes, Crysencio Summerville and El Hadji Malick Diouf were the key names which made the headlines but scratch a little deeper and players who never made it into Nuno’s first team regulars have also gone on to success after life as a Hammer.
None more so than George Earthy.
For those of us who’d witnessed his debut games under David Moyes it seemed an intensely disappointing end for a hugely talented young player. True, however, that it’s a fact of life in football that most academy players get sold or offloaded along the way: Earthy couldn’t make the jump to hold down a place in Nuno’s match day squad, sadly, and he was sold this summer to third tier Reading FC for a token £600,000.
Hammers fan Earthy has already tasted success since leaving in the summer
And those who knew Earthy well tipped him for instant success. Which is, of course, how it has panned out so far.
Earthy has so far scored twice in five appearances for his new side, winning plaudits from his new manager and prompting West Ham admirers to wonder what might have been. Already described by his new manager as ‘technically very good‘ and ‘hungry to improve‘, Earthy the West Ham fan could have a big impact in his first season in the third tier, with his Reading side ninth in League One.
Two man of the match awards already and a nomination for Reading’s “player of the month for September” suggest he’s well on the way.
Can’t help but think that under another manager, Earthy may have made it through to be a West Ham Championship success. but – as they say, you can’t keep ’em all.