Links with Manchester United striker Joshua Zirkzee this week have a few West Ham fans wondering if Jarrod Bowen may still have another level to go up in a claret and blue shirt.
While clearly not the best finisher, or the cleanest striker of a ball, Zirkzee feels like Jarrod Bowen’s ideal foil on paper. A self-professed ‘nine and a half’ who loves to drop deep, link the play, and flick through balls around the corner for speedy wide players to dart onto.
Speedy wide players like the West Ham United captain, for instance.
Speaking of forward partnerships, a couple of former Hammers youngsters have struck up an impressive one themselves over at Stoke City.
Divin Mubama and Sorba Thomas have scored or assisted nine goals between them for a Potters side camped in the play-off places heading into the tenth matchday.
Mubama and Thomas even fired Stoke into first place with three successive victories to kick off the 2025/26 campaign. And though Mark Robins’ pacesetters have slowed a little since then, three wins in a row making way for three draws in a row, a physical poacher like Mubama combined with a dynamic creator like Thomas is certainly a recipe for Championship success.
Former West Ham United starlets Divin Mubama and Sorba Thomas shine at Stoke
No wonder Mubama is pleased to have Thomas’ support, both on and off the pitch.
“We have mutual friends, so I knew [Thomas] was about to make this move,” Mubama tells the Stoke Sentinel, speaking on the Welsh winger’s move to Staffordshire from Huddersfield Town over the summer.
“It’s good when you know someone, and he’s from East London as well.
“Sorba was on the books at West Ham too but he’s six years older than me isn’t he? We’ve got a good relationship on and off the pitch.”
Thomas was indeed a one-time claret and blue kid. But while West Ham lost Divin Mubama to Manchester City in the summer of 2024, Barking-born Thomas endured the disappointment of being released as a 15-year-old.
He dropped down to non-league with Boreham Wood before climbing his way back up the ladder.
“Being told you’re not good enough is a smack in the face,” Thomas would later tell BBC Sport. “That was the first time I was told I wasn’t good enough. I didn’t take it well. I didn’t really want to play anymore.
“I kind of fell out of love with the game and tried to look at Plan Bs. My family and friends knew how much I wanted to be a pro footballer and getting back on the horse was hard.
“I started a little Sunday League team for a few months and tried to find the love again. I went to Boreham Wood and success started there really.”
Mubama enjoying Championship life as Mark Robins eyes promotion
A decade later, while it is too soon really to suggest that Thomas is showing West Ham what they are missing, the late-blooming 26-year-old appears to be on a trajectory leading him to the Premier League, with or without Stoke.
Sorba Thomas went head-to-head with Kevin de Bruyne during a seven-goal thriller between Wales and Belgium a few months back. Now, sitting joint-second in the Championship’s assist charts, Thomas may be sharing a pitch with the game’s finest creators again should he maintain his current rate of progress.
Mubama, however, has seen the goals dry up after a fine start.
While former West Ham teammate and now Stoke City mentor Aaron Cresswell insists Mubama has ‘all the attributes’ to make the grade at the top level, he will be determined to end a seven-game drought while Stoke aim to return to winning ways against Wrexham after the international break.
“I’ve enjoyed it [at Stoke],” he adds. “I don’t think I’ve reflected on myself as much because of the games going on but I came in here with an open mind, knowing I need to learn my craft, trying to perfect it and trying to get better with each game.
“The manager [Mark Robins] obviously helps everyone but, because he was a centre-forward himself, I think you can relate to him so much more.
“The advice he gives me going into games has really helped me so far.”
