Ten minutes was all it took for Kevin Keen to realise Callum Marshall had it in him to make it at West Ham.
Marshall, a fresh-faced 16-year-old over from Northern Ireland, was unlike the 20 to 30 other trialists he was up against.
Without a traditional academy upbringing, there was a raw, relentless energy that stopped Keen, West Ham’s Lead professional development phase coach, in his tracks.
“This boy came in from Northern Ireland, and within 10 minutes, me and my assistant turned to each other and went, we've got to sign this kid,” Keen tells Standard Sport.
“His enthusiasm, his energy, aligned with his footballing knowledge just shone through. The energy, the non-stop enthusiasm, is just fantastic.”
Young players these days are often guilty of being over-coached, victims of an academy system that has becoming increasingly competitive.
But Marshall, who started his career at amateur side Bangor Rangers in Northern Ireland before moving to Glentoran and then Linfield, cut his teeth away from the academy system, nurturing his natural striking instincts in the Irish Premiership.
Thrown into an atmosphere where he was scrapping for loose balls with those fighting to earn a living, Marshall quickly grew up, not conditioned by the comforts of life in an academy.
It has seen him become a Premier League debutant a little over three and a half years on from first meeting Keen as a trialist.
Now he is poised to step up at West Ham with Niclas Fullkrug out injured again.
“I see a lot of boys who've been in the academy system since they were nine, and when you get a boy from Northern Ireland come over at 16, who's not been in that system, they bring a rawness, a naturalness that sometimes can be lost by over-coaching,” says Keen.
“I think that desire, the win-at-all-costs mentality, has gone a little bit out of the game, especially with youngsters. That is certainly there within Callum
“He wants to win at everything. I think definitely when he's on the pitch, he wants to be the best player.
“He wants to score. He wants to create. He wants to be the one in the team who drives it on. He's got a real addictiveness.”
Marshall, an international debutant several years before he made his Premier League bow, was the jewel in the crown of West Ham’s 2023 FA Youth Cup-winning team, scoring in the final as the young Hammers beat an Arsenal side containing the likes of Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly 5-1 at the Emirates.
“There's a poacher instinct to him,” says Keen. “His goal in the Youth Cup final sums it up. From probably about three or four yards (out), he's got between bodies and volleyed it in.
“He's also got that ability to score from near the edge of the box, a little bit like Harry Kane hits those low shots into far corners.”
A loan to West Brom followed, but it was at Huddersfield where Marshall truly found his feet, scoring 10 goals in all competitions and winning the club’s player of the year award.
Off the back of his time at Huddersfield, first-team opportunities at West Ham beckoned this summer, and again he took his opportunity, impressing a number of senior players with his work rate and application.
Marshall is a player full of potential, but also full of running.
Humility and hard work underpin his rise, and Nuno Espirito Santo is the latest in a long list of West Ham head coaches who have taken to the young striker.
“When you go and train with the first team, that's your moment to show the first-team coach that you’re good enough to play in the first team,” says Keen.
“I don't think it's just Callum (who impressed), I know George Earthy had a big impact when he first went and trained with the first team. It's a massive moment.
“I discuss this with youth team players a lot. Those chances you get to train with the first team, you have to make an impression. Gaining the confidence of first-team players is a massive, massive step in a young player's career. If they know that the first-team players trust you and want you in and around them, then the manager notices it.”
Nuno has confirmed that Marshall, who will return to West Ham this week after being away on Northern Ireland duty, is competing for minutes with Fullkrug and Callum Wilson this season.
It was a huge show of faith from Nuno to bring on Marshall ahead of Wilson for his Premier League debut, and while he may not have experienced the same meteoric rise some young players do, his patience has been rewarded, with Nuno looking to youth to re-energise West Ham’s season.
