What a week this is for Callum Marshall! The young Northern Irish attacker celebrated his 18th birthday and signed a professional contract with West Ham United a day later. The promising forward is the latest rough diamond they want to polish into a shining gem in east London.Marshall scored seven goals in just five appearances for the Hammers’ youth team in the U18 Premier League this season. Such strong displays earned him a promotion to the Under-21 team, where he’s showing glimpses of talent that made the fans compare him to their old favourite, Jermaine Defoe.Callum signs joined by Academy Manager Kenny Brown and new Sporting Director Mark Noble (©WHUFC)Marshall started his football journey in his native Northern Ireland with Linfield FC. He and his young teammate Leon Boyd went to West Ham’s academy for trials a year ago, and the former was awarded a place in the Hammers’ youth set-up, moving to London in January 2022. His efforts for the Under-18 team earned high praise from former tutor and Fulham goalscorer David HealyThe Irons have a history of producing natural’ finishers in the modern era, with former England international Defoe the prime example. Marshall is very quick and has that knack for putting the ball in the back of the net with ease. The Premier League club has decided that the youngster is worth developing.##NAJAVA_MECA_6855388##The promising finisher signed his first professional contract with club legend Mark Noble looking on.”Signing my first professional deal with West Ham United feels really good. It’s something that I’ve been working towards my whole life. I’ve just been trying to replicate my form and make the step up to the U21s. I’m on my way back from an injury, too so it’s about getting as much game time as I can with the U18s in the coming weeks and hopefully do well. Now it’s time for me to push on. I need to keep my foot on the gas and keep going forward.”7️⃣ goals in 2️⃣ games!Enjoy every strike from Callum Marshall in the Next Gen Cup 🔥 pic.twitter.com/24L80VB5Ri— West Ham United (@WestHam) August 1, 2022 Marshall made his debut for the Under-21s in West Ham’s Premier League International Cup game against Sparta Prague in September and has shown plenty of promise leading the attacking line despite being considerably younger than most players on the team.David Moyes has got another promising youngster knocking on the door. His time will come.
