West Ham centre-back Ajibola Alesse has signed his first professional contract at the club, as revealed on the club’s official website.
The Hammers confirmed that the 17-year-old centre back has penned a three year deal which expires in 2021, which follows an eventful year having represented the England under-17s, and making his debut for the Irons’ under-23 side.
Congratulations, Ajibola! https://t.co/izLKjbQRK6
— West Ham United (@WestHam) July 4, 2018
Alesse will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow young defender Declan Rice, who has broken through the youth ranks at the London Stadium and into the first team, even being handed an international call up in recent months.
Speaking after signing the deal, the defender was quoted by the website as saying: “This caps off a great year for me, having broken into the Under-23 team last season and progressed with England, and now I just want to keep working hard and learning more.
“I’m now really excited and looking forward to next season. Hopefully I can establish myself in the Under-23 team and push on from there.”
OPINION
Ajibola Alese has had quite the eventful 12 months after starring for the Under 17’s England squad on home soil and making his Under 23’s debut. The young sensation follows in the footsteps of Declan Rice, who also progressed from the academy before establishing himself as a regular in the Hammers’ first-team. Rice’s career turned out to be rather successful, so there is no doubt that Alese can follow suit. All the youngster needs to do now is impress boss Manuel Pellegrini in order to get near the senior squad – and the manager is said to be keen to help youth products develop, which will be a confidence boost to Alese, and will give him hope that he may star for the East London outfit one day. If he carries on where he left off with the Under 23’s side, then he will have no problem in attempting to impress the Chilean coach this summer.