West Ham starlet Nathan Holland has set his sights on breaking through to the Hammers first team next season to give David Moyes another option in the final third.
Holland, 22, was named West Ham’s young player of the year on Monday after a stellar campaign for the under-23s where he racked up 14 goals and eight assists in just 18 outings for Dimitri Halajko’s side.
Holland was sent on loan to League One Oxford United in January and scored three goals in 12 appearances before a hamstring injury cut his season short.
Holland has been on the verge of a breakthrough in east London for almost two years and he was handed a Premier League bow last season away at Wolverhampton Wanderers and then against Arsenal.
Injuries have kept Holland back, who arguably might have been a first team player by now had hamstring injuries in 2018 not stalled his progress. Grady Diangana took Holland’s starting lineup place for a League Cup match against Macclesfield Town and hasn’t looked back since.
Holland’s time could come next season, David Moyes is keen to promote youth at the club and he wants a much younger and hungrier squad to compete with in 2020/21.
With the manager looking to recruit defenders this summer having let in 62 goals last term, Holland may well be one to benefit from the new transfer strategy.
“It’s brilliant,” Holland told West Ham TV of his award.
““I’ve achieved quite a few good things this year, so to get a personal achievement like this to end it off is really good.
“It kind of all just flowed together quite nicely. I’ve just been working hard, training well and playing well, and to get rewarded for that with my Premier League debut was just brilliant.
"It’s something you work towards for a long time, so to actually come on and be part of that was a really special moment for me.
“Looking at all the former Young Hammer of the Year winners, they’ve all done really well. To see Declan Rice doing what he’s doing now, and to have worked under Jack Collison, it’s good to be associated with those names, and hopefully I can go on to achieve great things.”
