West Ham have confirmed that Kevin Keen is returning to the club as Academy Under 18s Lead Coach.
Keen played for the Hammers 278 times between 1986 and 1983 and has since gone on to get 18 years of coaching experience.
He returned to the club in 2002 where he had a nine-year stay at Upton Park, filling various roles within the academy, reserves and first team.
Since leaving in 2011, he has worked as a first-team coach at Liverpool, been manager at Colchester United and worked across various Premier League clubs.
His latest role was at Southend United, though he will now be returning to East London, where he will add to the 19 years he has given West Ham across his playing and coaching careers- having first started out with the club as a 16-year-old apprentice.
He will be taking over from Jack Collison, who recently left the club to take up an opportunity overseas.
Keen’s main aim now will, of course, be to help bring youth players into the first team, with the likes of Declan Rice and Grady Diangana acting as proof that it can happen under Manuel Pellegrini.
There are a number of exciting players Keen will likely be dealing with, including striker Amadou Diallo and Slovakia U17 international Sebastian Nebyla.
