Now on loan at Stoke City, former West Ham United wonderkid Divin Mubama has one slight disappointment from his time at Premier League giants Manchester City.
A disappointment he would certainly have been warned about, as well, before making that contentious switch from East London to the North West during the summer of 2024.
Mubama left boyhood club West Ham for Manchester City after failing to agree terms regarding a new contract in the capital. Now, the teenage centre-forward actually played a respectable 18 first-team games for the Hammers.
Clearly, while some at the London Stadium felt Mubama would not reach Premier League-level, opportunities were there for a young striker willing to fight for them. So, when he swapped West Ham United for a star-studded Man City side, those critics always – and understandably – questioned why a player in his position would opt for a club where senior minutes were likely to be far harder to come by.
Now, in quotes reported by the Stoke Sentinel, Mubama admits that, while he reflects fondly on those days on the training pitch alongside Pep Guardiola, Erling Haaland and co, the England Under-21 international wishes he’d been given more chances to impress.
Former West Ham United starlet Divin Mubama on his one Man City disappointment
Despite scoring 16 times in 14 Premier League 2 matches for City’s reserves, Mubama played just twice under Guardiola before moving on loan to the Potteries in July.
‘Told you so’, goes the response from those who warned him against leaving West Ham in the first place.
“You learn so much,” Mubama begins, determined to focus on the positives. “Pep’s passion for football is something I knew previously, but to be a sponge in that environment and learning different things, from Erling too, has obviously developed my game.
“I obviously didn’t play as much as I would like, but I was surprised by how much you can learn in training.
“To take that into my career moving forward is massive. I think that’s going to play a massive development in my career.”
Still only 20, Divin Mubama made a flying start at Stoke City with a soaring header on his Championship debut against Derby County. He scored again versus Sheffield Wednesday in matchday two, but the goals have dried up since then.
While Mubama and Sorba Thomas struck up a fearsome partnership at the beginning of the campaign – one former West Ham youngster linking up with the other – goals, and wins, have dried up since the end of September.
Again, though, Mubama is looking towards the bright side.
“I’ve enjoyed it [at Stoke],” he says. “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.”
Aaron Cresswell delighted with Mubama reunion at Stoke City
As the third and most experienced member of Stoke’s former West Ham club, veteran left-back Aaron Cresswell is keen to mentor Mubama and co on the training pitch over the coming months.
“I speak sometimes now with, like, Divin who is just kind of starting his career off. And there’s times where you reflect and you sit back and you think, ‘where’s that time gone?’,” Cresswell smiled.
“It just goes so fast. You want to try and bottle every moment up. I remember joining West Ham [from Ipswich Town in 2024]. I think I was 23, relatively young. Joining a Premier League club was a massive eye opener.
“You want to help the younger boys now and pass the experience on in any way you can. But yeah, the one thing I will say is it just goes so fast.”
“It didn’t quite work out for him at West Ham and he’s obviously signed for Man City, and yeah I’m really really looking forward to watching him this season,” the 2023 Europa Conference League winner adds. “[Mubama] has got all the attributes to be a top striker.”
“He’s a great lad. He’s humble. He’s willing to work hard. So, he’s one that I’m keeping an eye on this year.
“Obviously, I’ve known Divine since he was a young kid, you know. I’ll never forget. We actually spoke about it the other week when he first joined us, I think he must have been 17 at the time on a pre-season tour.
“I remember thinking, ‘Gosh, who’s this kid?’. He’s enthusiastic, putting himself about. I remember he was coming up against Craig Dawson, who is a big centre-half and I remember him just absolutely flying into him and I thought, ‘Yeah, he’s got a bit about him’.
“And now look!”
