It was a goal England captain Harry Kane himself would have been proud of, scored in pre-season by a West Ham United youngster who now finds himself on the brink of Premier League prominence.
Set away by a pass in behind, the 20-year-old darted towards goal and, from the edge of the area, bulleted a fizzing strike into the bottom corner.
While it is far too early in his career to describe that finish as something of a trademark, Callum Marshall does appear to possess that Harry Kane-esque knack for finding the corners with power and precision.
At least, that is how Kevin Keen, West Ham United’s lead professional development phase coach, sees it.
The legendary former Hammers midfielder needed only ten minutes to realise that Marshall – then of Linfield in his native Northern Ireland – was an opportunity they could not allow to slip through their fingers.
Two-and-a-half years later, Marshall is finally a Premier League debutant. And, with a first start potentially up for grabs after Nuno Espirito Santo lost Niclas Fullkrug to injury, Marshall is determined to mark Monday’s London derby against Brentford with a first senior Hammers goal.
Presuming he does, expect the strike which breaks his duck to nestle in the corner of Caoimhin Kelleher’s net, struck with Kane-like accuracy.
Kevin Keen explains why West Ham United’s Callum Marshall resembles Harry Kane
If that thumping finish against Grasshopper Zurich in pre-season had shades of a certain Tottenham Hotspur icon, the goal Marshall scored against Birmingham City’s Under-21s back in September was certainly one straight out of the Kane playbook.
Drifting in behind the Blues backline, Marshall effortlessly rifled a first-time finish over the onrushing goalkeeper. The two he netted in the 5-1 EFL Cup thrashing of MK Dons, meanwhile, would have been special even by Kane’s standards.
An impudent backheel for his first, and a sweeping left-footed effort for his second following a well-worked set-piece routine. In total, before Nuno brought him on for his Premier League bow away at Arsenal, Marshall had scored four goals in just three reserve-team matches.
And while his former Linfield academy coach Glenn Ferguson claims that some at West Ham have doubts about his first-team potential, it is worth remembering that many centre-forwards take a little longer to really reveal their qualities.
Kane was the same age as Marshall is now when he made his first Premier League start. And, like West Ham’s number 50, that came after a handful of mixed loan spells in the EFL.
“There’s a poacher instinct to him,” Keen tells The Standard. “His goal in the Youth Cup final [when West Ham battered Arsenal 5-1 in 2023] sums it up. From probably about three or four yards, he’s got between bodies and volleyed it in.
“He’s also got that ability to score from near the edge of the box, a little bit like Harry Kane hits those low shots into far corners.”
Marshall brings ‘enthusiasm and energy’ to Nuno Espirito Santo’s attack
While Kane scored 14 goals combined from stints at Leyton Orient, Millwall and Leicester City, Marshall won Huddersfield Town’s Young Player of the Year after netting 10 times in 46 matches across 2024/25.
Like with Freddie Potts and the currently-injured George Earthy, back from fine loans at Portsmouth and Bristol City respectively, Marshall looks likely to be given a chance by a coach who is determined to provide opportunities which appeared few and far between under predecessor Graham Potter.
“This boy came in from Northern Ireland, and within 10 minutes, me and my assistant turned to each other and went, we’ve got to sign this kid,” adds Keen, who played nearly 300 matches for West Ham between 1986 and 1993.
“His enthusiasm, his energy, aligned with his footballing knowledge just shone through. The energy, the non-stop enthusiasm, is just fantastic.
“I see a lot of boys who’ve been in the academy system since they were nine, and when you get a boy from Northern Ireland come over at 16, who’s not been in that system, they bring a rawness, a naturalness that sometimes can be lost by over-coaching,” says Keen.
“I think that desire, the win-at-all-costs mentality, has gone a little bit out of the game, especially with youngsters. That is certainly there within Callum.
“He wants to win at everything. I think definitely when he’s on the pitch, he wants to be the best player. He wants to score. He wants to create. He wants to be the one in the team who drives it on. He’s got a real addictiveness.”
‘Energy’, funnily enough, was a word Nuno used when describing Marshall’s qualities at the Emirates. Some West Ham fans drew comparisons with Jamie Vardy in pre-season, meanwhile.
His high pressing out of possession, plus that instinctive movement off the shoulder, certainly threatens to bring a different dimension to this often toothless Hammers attack. And that is before you talk about his finishing.
