David Moyes has urged Divin Mubama to commit his future to West Ham, warning the striker not to repeat the “big mistakes” of other young players who have left the club.
Mubama, one of the Hammers’ most highly-rated academy talents, is out of contract at the end of the season and has so far rejected the club’s offer of a new long-term deal.
The 19-year-old was a key member of the side that won the FA Youth Cup last season and made six appearances for the first team, scoring his first goal in the Europa Conference League win over AEK Larnaca in March.
His regular involvement in pre-season this summer suggested a more significant breakthrough could be on the cards, but Mubama has so far made only three substitute cameos and is yet to feature in the Premier League.
“Divin was offered a contract 12 months ago but he is the one who is not willing to sign it,” Moyes confirmed. “We like Divin a lot, he is an East End lad and a West Ham supporter, a great lad, we love him so much. I think the best thing for Divin is to sign a contract with West Ham.”
“He has competition ahead of him, but he is very young. If I can give him more opportunities, I will. But he is an 18-year-old centre-forward and there are not many of them playing in the Premier League.”
West Ham have been frustrated by a steady stream of prospects leaving the club in recent years. Jeremy Ngakia made his first-team debut just before the Covid suspension in 2020 but then refused to sign a contract extension and joined Watford on a free transfer the same summer, while full-back Harrison Ashby was sold to Newcastle in January this year for a cut-price fee, having made it clear he would not sign beyond the final six months of his contract.
Ashby is currently on loan in the Championship with Swansea, while teenager Sonny Perkins, whose exit to Leeds 18 months ago left West Ham publicly furious, has moved to League One side Oxford United in search of more playing time.
“A lot of them[young players]are getting impatient but the biggest problem is that their agents want to take them away and get them to play somewhere else,” Moyes added. “A lot of them are making the wrong decisions. There are some lads who have left here and made incredibly wrong decisions. They are in a great environment here. We are a football club that wants to bring in young players. Generally speaking, we don’t have big squads, we’re not signing all the time.
“There are some who left here and made big mistakes. If they are not careful, they can receive misinformation about what they are doing and what their career path should look like.”
Mubama came on in the final minutes of West Ham’s Europa League win over Olympiacos on Thursday night and was warmly welcomed by the London Stadium crowd and it was telling that Moyes turned to the youngster rather than Michail Antonio or Danny Ings with the game still in the balance at 1-0.
Antonio started the season as West Ham’s first-choice striker but the Jamaican has not scored since August and Moyes has made it clear he now sees Jarrod Bowen as his best option in the position, prompting renewed speculation over Antonio’s future.
“Micky has competition, he always has,” Moyes said. “We need Mick to score goals. He started the season really well, but we need him to score. If you’re going to be No.9, you need those goals.
“All the players who don’t make the team may look like they want to leave, but we expect them to fight, to compete for their place, to get back into form, to be in a position to score goals. That’s what we want. He’s been part of a team and he’s been a very important member.”
