There are few things West Ham United supporters like to see more than one of their own in Claret and Blue.
For well over a century, east Londoners have worn the West Ham shirt with pride, from early marksmen Danny Shea and Syd Puddefoot, through legendary World Cup winners Bobby Moore and Martin Peters, to Boys of 86 Tony Cottee, Alan Dickens and Geoff Pike, and recently retired captain Mark Noble.
The conveyor belt has never stopped producing, and this season has been no different, with local lads Freddie Potts, Kamarai Swyer and Divin Mubama all featuring in the UEFA Europa Conference League Group B win over FCSB in Romania in November.
Striker Mubama started the game in Bucharest and caught the eye with his work-rate, intelligent movement and technical ability. Indeed, he was only denied a debut goal when his header was diverted into the net by defender Joyskim Dawa for an own-goal.
Regardless, the elation on the Silvertown-born player’s face at the time brought smiles to the faces of Hammers everywhere, sharing in the Academy of Football graduate’s delight.
The 18-year-old, who scored in the first-team pre-season victory at Swiss club Servette and has impressed manager David Moyes and his coaching staff with his professionalism throughout the current campaign.
After scoring twice in the U18s’ FA Youth Cup third-round win at Sheffield United, Mubama was rewarded with a Premier League debut at Arsenal on Boxing Day. And, having scored four goals in three Premier League 2 Division 1 matches for the U21s this year, he will now hope for another opportunity to impress at first-team level in Monday’s Emirates FA Cup fourth-round tie at Derby County.
Moyes was asked about Mubama’s development and if he could feature at Pride Park Stadium, the manager spoke positively about the England U19 international.
“I’d like to have Divin involved if I could,” he began. “I’d like to have him around the group. I think he gives us great energy and is a great runner.
“If you’re asking me where I think he is, I think he is still off it a little bit, but if I could get him involved, I certainly would because the biggest thing about him is that he’s got a brilliant attitude. He’s willing to run and work for the team and is a real team player, which I really like.
“We like him and we think he’s got a chance, but it’s probably just a little bit before his time, really, but you’ve seen him in Europe and he came on in a mid-season game against Fulham and he’s done well, so 100 per cent, if we’ve got room for Divin, we’ll try and use him.
“I like him a lot because he’s a boy who reacts like ‘Wow! What a chance I’ve got here!’. He’s grateful, he has great humility in him with the work he wants to do, and at Fulham we asked him to go on and just chase people down and he was unbelievable at it. He nearly got a standing ovation from the West Ham supporters because of his commitment and his effort.
“I’ve included him more and involved him more because he has shown a bit of what we needed and we’ll try and look after him as well.”
