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Despite the spending spree West Ham have enjoyed recently, especially in the last two summer transfer windows, it’s always nice to see youngsters coming through the ranks at the Academy of Football.

Over the years, the superb Hammers faithful have witnessed a plethora of England internationals break into the first team, many thanks to the one and only Tony Carr who, as the Academy Director of the club, is rather an unsung hero in east London.

Carr has been responsible for producing talent such as Rio Ferdinand, Jermain Defoe, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Glen Johnson as well as the likes of current Hammers players James Tomkins and Mark Noble.

Now the likes of the promising Reece Oxford, Reece Burke and Josh Cullen are looking to emulate Ferdinand and co., with the latter two being sent out on loan to League One outfit Bradford City to improve their development.

However, although one certain player did not come through the well renowned youth system at West Ham, this youngster definitely has a bright future at the club.

Norwegian midfielder Martin Samuelsen is a prodigy that could benefit the Hammers, especially when the much anticipated move to the Olympic Stadium in a matter of months finally becomes reality.

Formerly of two-time Premier League champions Manchester City, the Etihad Stadium outfit decided last summer that Samuelsen was not deemed worthy enough of City’s vision. But City’s loss appears to be West Ham’s gain.

We had no worries about snapping up the tricky midfielder in the summer and he was heavily involved in pre-season.

However, like Burke and Cullen, Samuelsen has been sent out on loan to gain valuable first team action and it’s proving to be successful at League One side Peterborough United.

A ‘Lionel Messi-esq’ goal by beating three players at Sheffield United was just the start.

Most recently, the football neutral got see the quality of the talented 18-year-old in the FA Cup fourth round replay against Premier league strugglers West Bromwich Albion.

Minus his penalty shoot-out miss, Samuelsen managed to bamboozle most of the Baggies players as the Posh were extremely unlucky not to advance to the next stage of the cup.

As the Hammers have a lot of strength in depth at the moment, manager Slaven Bilic has already stated his desire to include Samuelsen in the first team for next season, meaning that strength in depth is only going to get stronger.

At the moment, there is very little chance of him starting in front of the likes Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini, but he is definitely one that can make a positive impact in the future for West Ham.

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