The former non-league star played with the pair at Chelsea until he was 15.
West Ham United have not exactly had the best of January transfer windows. They missed out on a number of targets and the signing of Jordan Hugill on deadline day has not pleased fans at the London Stadium.
They did also push through another deal, which emerged today. West Ham won the battle to sign the highly coveted Solihull Moors striker Oladapo Afolayan.
England’s striker Tammy Abraham
Again, it is hardly a move that has West Ham fans jumping out of their seats and he is expected to go into the under-23s for the rest of the season.
But Afolayan has held some illustrious company before dropping into and impressing in non-league football.
Before he moved to Toronto as a 15-year-old the striker was actually in the youth-team at Chelsea – where he battled for the striker role with two recent England debutants.
Dominic Solanke, who left Chelsea for Liverpool in the summer, and Tammy Abraham, who is on loan at Swansea City from the Blues.
England’s striker Dominic Solanke (R) vies with Brazil’s defender Miranda
Solanke earned his first England cap in November, based mainly on his excellent performances in the England under-20 set-up. Abraham also made his England debut last year after an impressive season with Bristol City and a decent start to his spell in South Wales.
There is little doubt that both will now harbour ambitions of making it to the England first-team in the long-run. Afolayan is now finally back in their territory, playing for a Premier League club. West Ham fans will hope he continues to match and eventually surpass the progression of his former team-mates.
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