Daniel Chesters was brimming with pride and eyeing further first-team opportunities after scoring West Ham United’s winner in Tuesday’s 2-1 pre-season victory at Ipswich Town.
The Academy of Football graduate has been with the Club since the age of eight and now, at 20, is showing the talent that he has developed at Little Heath, Chadwell Heath and Rush Green over the past 12 years.
An attacking midfield player with impressive technical ability, confidence on the ball and an eye for goal, Chesters showed composure and awareness to control the ball after fellow Academy product Harrison Ashby’s rasping 25-yarder had come back off the post, before calmly passing it into the Ipswich net.
The moment was another one to savour for Chesters, who made his first-team and Premier League debuts for the Club last season against Dinamo Zagreb and Liverpool respectively, and is now setting his sights on further senior recognition after being part of David Moyes’ training group in both St Andrews and Évian-les-Bains this summer.
“It was a really good game, I’m just delighted to get the goal, it’s a dream come true, really, and another 90 minutes in the tank so it’s good,” he told West Ham TV. “It’s a great environment and it’s nice to meet some of the new lads as well like Flynn Downes and Nayef Aguerd and it’s good to have the international boys back like Dec (Declan Rice) and Johno (Ben Johnson).”
Chesters’ goal added to those scored by fellow Academy youngsters Aji Alese and Divin Mubama to see off Swiss side Servette last Friday evening, while a host of other homegrown prospects have impressed so far in pre-season.
“It was a really good experience in France,” Chesters confirmed. “Obviously, the weather was lovely and training was good so I’m just happy to be around the first team. I think the young lads have done themselves proud recently, with Aji and Divin getting on the scoresheet and doing really well, so it’s been good.
“To be fair, [for my goal] I got a bit of a nosebleed being that far up the pitch but I kept my composure and just slotted it in!”
With the international players returning to Rush Green this week, chances to play may become harder to come by, but Chesters has done himself no harm at all in recent weeks.
“It’s been a great journey so far and hopefully there are many more first-team games to come,” he enthused.
“I can’t wait to get stuck in more and hopefully get more minutes this season. I’ve just got to keep pushing on, really.”
