Divine Mukasa, a young player for West Ham United, has officially signed with Manchester City, which might potentially cost them millions of dollars. The England Under-17 international has recently signed as a new player for Manchester City, according to Fabrizio Romano, who made the announcement on Twitter X (22 September). The paperwork have already been signed and sealed.
The 16-year-old Mukasa played often for West Ham’s under-18 team last year and will join Harrison Parker, a youngster from Manchester United, with the Premier League winners. After losing Amara Nallo to Liverpool this summer, it is thus yet another severe blow for David Moyes and Hammers.
While the signings of these West Ham United stars with Liverpool and City offer great chances, they also serve as another depressing reminder to the East Londoners and other esteemed football academies that they are no longer the top destination for talented young players. Future financial consequences from this could not be favorable.
According to TEAMtalk, Nallo was one of 12 academy players to sign scholarship terms with West Ham in May of this year, after making appearances for the club’s Under-18 side, and it was claimed that the Hammers would be entitled to training recompense.
That, however, pales in comparison to the millions they could have gotten had they turned him into a Declan Rice-type prospect and sold him for a tidy profit years later. The same can be said about Mukasa, who has advanced rapidly through the West Ham academy.
Also Read: What Kurt Zouma Has Said About David Moyes’ Motivation To Players In West Ham
West Ham lost Yet Another Young Talent
Divine Mukasa made 10 appearances for West Ham’s under-18 team last year, scoring once and providing an assist. He made nine appearances and scored three goals for England’s under-16 team elsewhere, becoming as a regular [Transfermarkt]. Mukasa can’t be criticized for seizing the chance to join another of England’s top academies and transfer to the Champions League holders given his background at such a young age.
However, it is a setback for the Hammers in their search for the next Declan Rice. If they continue to give away their brightest young jewels to the greatest teams in the nation, how can they accomplish that intriguing and novel goal?
Losing both Amara and Mukasa is an enormous blow for such a developing and well-known academy establishment, given the amount of young academy starlets who have already left the Hammers over the previous year.
After losing one of their greatest academy products in the shape of Rice, the Hammers should be motivated to carry on the heritage of discovering the next Declan Rice. However, achieving that goal could be challenging, which might end up costing them millions in the long run.
