West Ham United have an exciting teenager who club insiders "really rate", and manager David Moyes could begin to unleash him over the next few weeks.
Burnley 1-2 West Ham
The Irons have now won four out of their last five matches in all competitions, easing the pressure on Moyes and putting them in good shape for contests against Backa Topola and Crystal Palace.
Their latest win, a 2-1 victory away to Burnley at Turf Moor, is particularly important given West Ham recently lost both Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen to injury.
Moyes was forced to start Danny Ings – a player he's hardly selected this season – up front as the east Londoners' shortage of striker options was laid bare. The Englishman was taken off and replaced by promising youngster Divin Mubama, who is at the centre of rumours linking him with being offered a new West Ham deal.
Mubama played a very big role in clinching West Ham the three points, forcing defender Dara O'Shea into an own goal before Tomas Soucek's added time volley put Moyes' side 2-1 ahead.
The teenager could be West Ham's next big talent, and it will be interesting to see how Mubama fairs in Moyes' plans before the manager potentially leaves this summer.
West Ham insiders "really rate" Mubama
According to journalist Paul Brown, speaking to GiveMeSport, West Ham insiders "really rate" Mubama as a player and they're excited by his potential in claret and blue.
Moyes could use the 19-year-old "sparingly" over the next few weeks as well, as the Scotsman weighs up whether Mubama can stay consistent and play at a high level.
"Knowing Moyes like I do, and how much of a captain cautious manager he is, I would be surprised if he gives me Mubama a run of starts now," said Brown.
"There's an argument for doing so and I know that people inside the club really rate this kid very highly. He looks like he's got something about him. There's clearly some talent there and they hope he'll progress into a really good player, but it would be out of character for Moyes to expect so much so quickly from someone who's just coming into the team.
"So I suspect that he will be used a bit more sparingly off the bench over the next few weeks to see if he really does have it and whether he can stay consistent."
Moyes, speaking to the press recently, heaped praise on the Englishman for working very hard behind-the-scenes.
“We want to play Divin but he has quite a lot of competition,” said Moyes (via The Athletic). “I don’t know how many 19-year-old centre-forwards are playing in the Premier League. It’s something which is getting harder because it’s such a difficult role. The level of competition to be a centre-forward is really high at most clubs.
“But Divin is different from the rest. He has a mentality and an attitude that is as good as any top player."