A new face was among the West Ham first team training on Friday this week though he's not expected to be a permanent fixture in senior squad just yet - Ajibola Alese.
The 18-year-old centre back, who played for the Hammers U23s against Leicester City in PL2 on Sunday afternoon, has enjoyed a hugely successful season as he has made the step up to PL2 football alongside Mason Barrett and Reece Oxford in the centre of West Ham's defence.
Alese penned his first professional deal in July last year at the club after excelling in limited U23 football but he has been a regular for Liam Manning's side this year who have struggled in the top flight of youth level
Hammers manager Manuel Pellegrini has been keen all season long to see the U23 lads have a chance in first team training at the very least and he has also handed five of them first team debuts this season - Conor Coventry, Joe Powell, Grady Diangana, Ben Johnson and Xande Silva.
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Alese is not expected to be a part of first team squads for the final six games of the season but yet again it has shown that the Chilean boss is keeping an eye on his youngsters with a view to bringing them through.
When he signed his pro contract, academy chief Terry Westley was thrilled to keep Alese on board for the next three years.
He said: "We are very fortunate to have one of the best defenders in the country for his age group – proved by the fact that Aji has played for and captained England at youth level.
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"He played five times for our Under-23s last season [17/18] as a first-year scholar and, if it wasn't for injury, I think he would have played a lot more at that level. He has a really good pedigree, having progressed through our system from a very young age."
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