OPINION
When any club are linked with a teenage talent who has limited game time to their name you know it is a move with a view for the future.
West Ham are a side who have not shied away from putting their trust and faith in the stars of tomorrow, the likes of Declan Rice and Grady Diangana the latest to graduate through their famed academy and into the first team.
Of course, any side needs a balance of youth and experience and in Mark Noble they have someone who not only has bags of game time under his belt but would also bleed claret and blue if you cut him open.
He is the dressing room’s Mr West Ham but as is the case in football, he cannot last forever, leaving the Irons to try and find a long-term replacement for their stalwart in the centre.
French publication L’Equipe report that the Hammer, alongside London rivals Crystal Palace, are keen on snapping up AC Ajaccio prospect Davis Abanda this summer, the 18-year-old midfielder described as a creative talent who scored five goals in France’s fifth flight with Ajaccio II – the French side’s professional National 3 team.
Now Noble is not the most creative player at West Ham, bringing a more industrious nature to the centre of the park but the fact of the matter is the one area of his game he could improve on is goals from open play.
With Declan Rice acting as the enforcer, Noble needs to step up and provide a spark of magic every now and again and he has not really done that – making Abanda the potential perfect replacement for the English Hammer.
Securing his signing and having him learn under the Irons captain would no doubt help him transform his game and become a much more well rounded player, with the ability to fill Noble’s boots once he either leaves east London or hangs them up for good.