The West Ham centre back conveyor belt

West Ham currently have a  conveyor belt of centre backs coming through the academy as Fabian Balbuena looks set to becomes the first of the current first team squad to be on his way.

Fredericks Alves, the £1.2m signing from Denmark has been impressing in training and is said to be ready to step up to the senior squad.

With Angelo Ogbonna 33 in May the Hammers have two more promising central defenders in working to get theur first team chances.

This week Ajibola Alese signed a new contract with West Ham.

The defender is currently on loan with League Two club Cambridge United and has made two league appearances for the club since his arrival in February.

Seventeen-year-old Jamal Baptiste has been described as the the real deal by his former boss Terry Westley and that was confirmed when he was dubbed  “the new Rio Ferdinand” by Carlton Cole

After joining the Hammers Academy as a nine-year-old the versatile defender broke into the U18 squad on a regular basis at the start of the 2018/19 season while still a 14 year -old schoolboy.

Tall, strong and comfortable in possession, Baptiste made his full debut in a U18 Premier League South win at Norwich City on 11 August 2018.

By the season’s end he had started 14 times. The youngster’s outstanding progress continued in the 2019/20 season as he made his debut for the U23s in a 1-0 Premier League International Cup win over Valencia ‘B’.

He made his first senior competitive debut for West Ham this season against Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup fourth round.