There was plenty of excitement when Martin Samuelsen joined West Ham, as this vibrant young talent had turned up to fulfil his star potential.
He was given minutes immediately, as the Hammers flaunted their new youngster before the Upton Park crowd for the last half an hour of the first leg in a Europa League tie against Birkirkara.
He got one single minute in the return leg, as the Hammers scraped through by beating the Maltese side on penalties.
And in all honesty, scraping through is exactly what Samuelsen has done in his career since then.
In the following four years he hasn’t added a single appearance to his tally with West Ham’s first team and has been sent out on loan to five different clubs.
Peterborough was his first move away and he clocked up 32 appearances; it was quietly encouraging but his other loans have been unable to match that, as spells with Blackburn Rovers and Burton Albion passed by with no real impact being made.
He went to VVV Venlo at the beginning of last season, though that was ended early with the Norwegian left on the bench more times than he got onto the pitch.
This has seen him go back to his home town, where he is currently on loan with FK Haugesund and finally getting game time, as he played all 10 games he was available for, scoring twice.
Though with his return to East London set for June 30th, the man capped three times by Norway finds himself at a crossroads in his career.
At 22-years-old he will be keen to settle at a club and get consistent game time, though it is highly unlikely he will be able to do so if he stays with West Ham.
It is a very important summer for him and he will have a lot of thinking to do.
