By Conor Hogan

West Ham’s youth side were beaten 4–0 by Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday night.

The young Irons fell to a humbling defeat in their PL International Cup opener in Dagenham against the Spanish side.

Among those on the pitch for West Ham were midfield prospects Preston Fearon and Lewis Orford. Josh Ajala, who has often impressed up front in PL2, also started for the young Irons.

However, there were some notable omissions from the squad: George Earthy, Mohamadou Kanté and Callum Marshall were all absent on Wednesday night. This strongly suggests they are likely to be included in the first-team squad for tomorrow’s trip to Manchester United.

Although it still feels something of a pipe dream to see the likes of Earthy and Kanté feature regularly for the senior side right now, both players are clearly in Nuno Espírito Santo’s plans.

Additionally, Callum Marshall has been given cameos in games against Arsenal and Brentford under the Portuguese boss — even when both Callum Wilson and Niclas Füllkrug were available.

With Lucas Paquetà missing the game through suspension, it is likely that Tomáš Souček or Soungoutou Magassa will start alongside Freddie Potts and Mateus Fernandes in the Hammers’ midfield — and either would be a perfectly reasonable choice.

But as a fan, there is always that hope — or often delusion — that a young player will get their chance and show what they’re made of, just as Potts has done so far this campaign.

Earthy has been particularly unfortunate with injuries since the summer, and it is unlikely that he would be risked in a game of this magnitude. But the 21-year-old has something that has transformed the Hammers’ midfield recently: great movement.

A Potts–Fernandes–Earthy midfield would overflow with off-the-ball intelligence and a constant willingness to receive from the back line. Earthy isn’t the most physical, but the strength and tenacity of Fernandes and Potts could offer a nice balance.

Likewise, Kanté’s strength and driving runs could also trouble the opposition. The Frenchman has been dominant in PL2 action, and it would be fascinating to see how his attributes translate to first-team football.

As mentioned, Souček or Magassa will probably start — and that’s absolutely fine. In Paquetà’s absence, a cameo from Earthy or Kanté would be a risk… but a potentially very exciting one.