Speaking recently on the U Irons podcast, Roshane Thomas claimed that David Moyes could include Ademipo ‘Mipo’ Odubeko in his plans for West Ham United’s Premier League clash on Saturday.
Following Sebastien Haller’s £20 million sale to Ajax, Moyes has been left considerably short of attacking options in his squad, with Michail Antonio being the club’s only recognised out-and-out striker.
As a result, much as been discussed as to who West Ham could look to bring in to replace the Frenchman in the current transfer window, with Joshua King, Olivier Giroud, Adam Hlozek, Abdallah Sima and Boulaye Dia all mentioned as potential targets.
However, speaking on a recent episode of the U Irons podcast, Thomas claimed that 18-year-old Mipo, who featured for one minute in the club’s recent FA Cup victory, could be catapulted into Moyes’ first-team plans on a more regular basis.
He said: “I think Mipo played for about 30 seconds [against Stockport County] if I’m not mistaken. It would have been nice to see him get a bit longer on the pitch because he’s been great for the U23s, obviously prior to the injury he suffered.
“I’d imagine Moyes will look to give him a chance against Burnley on Saturday, and hopefully give him a longer run [out], because you can’t keep playing Antonio for 90 minutes if we don’t bring in another striker.”
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TIF Thoughts on Roshane Thomas’ comments regarding Ademipo Odubeko…
Considering that Mipo has been on the books of both Manchester City and Manchester United as a youngster, as well as attracting interest from the likes of Juventus, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund prior to his move to West Ham, it would certainly seem as if the general consensus is that the centre-forward has a great future ahead of him.
However, as mentioned previously, with only Antonio – who has already been sidelined due to injury for a considerable amount of time this season – as an option up front, Moyes well not have any choice in throwing Mipo into the Premier League’s deep end against Burnley this weekend, whether he is ready for it or not.