One man was instrumental to keep West Ham’s biggest prospect at the club this Summer.

Fans were rightfully outraged when it was revealed that Lewis Orford was offered to Aston Villa as part

of the deal for Jhon Duran. Selling the U18s England captain who’s a boyhood West Ham fan and has arguably the biggest potential out of any of their Academy’s players just doesn’t make sense.

Thankfully, Villa rejected the bid and the fans’ anger was quickly recognised by the board who got straight to work on getting the midfielder a new deal.

However, according to The Athletic, it was Mr West Ham himself, Mark Noble, who was instrumental in getting the youngster to sign a 5 year deal. “In June, West Ham rejected Villa’s offer for the highly rated 18-year-old,” the article claimed. “West Ham’s £32million offer for Duran included Orford but was rejected. Thereafter, Mark Noble, the sporting director, and David Sullivan, the majority shareholder, prioritised Orford’s long-term future. Noble spoke to Orford in the United States, with the midfielder having joined the first team on their pre-season tour. Those talks have succeeded.”

Noble has previously gone public with his anger about the club’s decision to sell a once highly rated prospect in Grady Diangana, so who knows what his reaction to Orford’s departure would have been if Villa did accept the offer. As usual, the former captain has the club’s best interests at heart and hopefully Orford can go on to have a long career as a Hammer.