West Ham United goalkeeping coach Xavi Valero has set himself, and the Academy Of Football, the target of producing a goalkeeper that can break into the West Ham first-team squad.
The Hammers’ famed youth set-up has continued to create young stars in recent seasons, with the likes of England international Declan Rice and full-back Ben Johnson leading the list of names that have not only been handed senior team appearances, but have become regulars around the first-team set-up.
One only needs to consider the names who received senior debuts in the Europa League group stages as Dan Chesters and Sonny Perkins featured against KRC Genk and Rapid Vienna respectively, while Freddie Potts and Keenan Forson came in for their respective debuts in the home match with Dinamo Zagreb in a match which saw no fewer than eight Academy prospects feature – including the likes of Aji Alese, Harrison Ashby and Emmanuel Longelo.
With so many Academy prospects getting their opportunity in and around David Moyes’ side, Valero is hopeful that his work with the Club’s goalkeeping department can produce a similar opportunity for one of West Ham’s young shot-stoppers in the not-too-distant future.
I hope that, in a few years, we can talk of a goalkeeper that has come through the West Ham Academy and can be part of the first team squad
Xavi Valero
“When I first came here a few years ago, aside from taking charge of first-team goalkeeping as the first-team goalkeeping coach, I also looked at the last few years at West Ham,” Valero told whufc.com. “We are the Academy Of Football and we have produced - and we keep producing - big players like Declan Rice, Ben Johnson and others, but we’re still perhaps lacking developing a goalkeeper.
“From that, I felt that we should first put some effort into developing a proper goalkeeping department which works with the same ideas as the first team for the very young ages. It was important that the goalkeeping coaches can speak the same language and share the same principles of the game, and that will aid the development of our goalkeepers.
“Add into that good recruitment and working to sign the best possible goalkeepers for the Academy.
“That was the idea and I hope that, in a few years, we can talk of a goalkeeper that has come through the West Ham Academy and can be part of the first team squad, as a number one or two.”
West Ham’s commitment to the development of young goalkeepers was apparent this week as Krisztián Hegyi, who joined the Irons as an U18 shot-stopper in 2019, penned a new contract with the Club until 2025.
The Hungary U21 international goalkeeper has become a regular starter in Mark Robson’s U23s this campaign, but the Academy goalkeeping roster packs a host of talent ready to make the most of their respective opportunities.
Brian Kinnear featured between the posts for the U23s in Monday’s Premier League 2 contest with Leicester City, with 17-year-old Jacob Knightbridge coming onto the bench.
Nathan Trott, meanwhile, is continuing his development on loan at French club Nancy, starting regularly for the Ligue 2 side. The 23-year-old is the West Ham Academy’s most recent goalkeeping debutant, coming on as a substitute in the 4-0 FA Cup fourth round win over Doncaster Rovers last January.
Elsewhere, Joseph Anang spent the first half of this campaign on loan with League Two side Stevenage, making 18 appearances in all competitions, and has since joined League Of Ireland side St Patrick's Athletic on loan for the 2022 season.
Hegyi, Trott and Knightbridge were invited by Valero to join the first team pre-season camp at St Andrew’s in Scotland back in July, while Anang and Kinnear also have experience of working alongside the likes of Poland international Lukasz Fabianski and France international Alphonse Areola in training at Rush Green.
Valero knows that watching how the experienced, first-team goalkeepers work on a daily basis is crucial for the Academy players’ continued progression and believes their integration into the squad on a regular basis will eventually lead to a regular first-team slot for at least one of them.
He added: “In terms of mixing these young goalkeepers with the first team goalkeepers, we’ve been trying to do that in the last couple of years.
“This is another way of learning how to play the game, and this exposure to the first team environment and watching from a close range how first-team goalkeepers give a certain solution to certain in-game situations is very useful and valuable.
“We have some good names – Nathan Trott, Joseph Anang, Krisztián Hegyi, Jacob Knightbridge and other young goalkeepers too – so we have put in a lot of effort just trying to develop our own goalkeeper from the Academy.”