Teenager Mipo Odubeko is on the verge of a first-team breakthrough at West Ham United as David Moyes considers an internal option to replace Sebastien Haller, as reported by 90Min.
Monday night’s grim 1-0 victory over non-league Stockport County in the FA Cup third round is unlikely to live long in the memory.
But, for one member of the West Ham squad, this was a day of celebration; a culmination of a lifetime of hard graft.
Odubeko came off the bench for the final few seconds at Edgley Park. And a first-team debut was a fitting reward for a striker who has been turning heads behind the scenes ever since joining from Manchester United in late-2019.
90Min claims that Odubeko, who was a target for Dortmund, Juventus and Bayern Munich two years ago, has been pitting his wits against the likes of Michail Antonio, Declan Rice and Mark Noble in first-team training after catching Moyes’ eye.
With Haller’s £20 million move to Ajax leaving Antonio as the only centre-forward in West Ham’s squad, Odubeko could soon be following up his FA Cup bow with a Premier League debut.
The report believes that the 18-year-old is on the cusp of forcing his way into the matchday squad after scoring prolifically at U18 level.
Moyes is still hoping to bring in a new striker during the January transfer window, however, with Boulaye Dia, Adam Hlozek and Abdallah Sima all joining Josh King on the wish-list.
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