Proclaiming any West Ham United youngster ‘ready’ for first-team, Premier League football after an impressive handful of performances at Under-21 level is fraught with risk.
Especially considering the situation Nuno Espirito Santo’s side find themselves in right now.
Just look at the criticism which came the way of Ollie Scarles, for instance, following Friday’s latest top-flight defeat, this time away at Leeds. Scarles was ‘awful’ at Elland Road, former Watford captain Troy Deeney said.
But when you consider that this was a left-back lining up out of position on the right for West Ham United, and making only his ninth start in the Premier League at the age of just 19, it is difficult not to wonder if Nuno could have handled a somewhat inexperienced youngster with a little more care.
Even hard-nosed, battle-scarred operators have been seen reduced to quivering wrecks at a club plummeting towards the bottom of the table. What impact could West Ham’s malaise, dreadful on the pitch and toxic of it, have on a teenager used to the sterilised environment of academy football?
So even if Emeka Adiele is ‘ready’ for first-team action, as some have suggested, to throw the livewire left-sider in now would be like asking the 18-year-old to do his driving test on the Silverstone circuit.
West Ham United fans rave about U21 assist-machine Emeke Adiele
Emeka Adiele has three goals and six assists to his name already in 2025/26. Perhaps the most promising aspect of this season’s performances are that some of his finest displays have come against senior opposition.
Adiele created two of West Ham’s five goals in September’s EFL Trophy drubbing of League Two promotion hopefuls MK Dons. The versatile wideman, who has been used as a left-back and as a left-winger this season, then hit a quickfire brace against Sutton United in the National League Cup last week.
Like Freddie Potts, George Earthy, Callum Marshall, Gideon Kodua, Fin Herrick and more, the natural next step could be a loan move. Most appropriately, perhaps, to a lower-league EFL club or an ambitious non-league outfit.
‘Ready’ for senior football is one thing. Ready for the Premier League is another.
“Adiele is unreal,” one fan wrote on social media after seeing the England Under-18 international maintain his rapid rate of progress with the club’s reserves.
“Adiele is ready,” another says.
“Hopefully Adiele plays for West Ham’s first-team in the future. He’s quality.”
Hammers coach Greg Lincoln full of praise for Adiele’s impact
Gabriel Caliste opened his under-21 account for West Ham during Friday night’s 1-0 win over Aston Villa. Again, the buccaneering Adiele was the source of another Hammers goal. He will have to wait for his seventh assist of the new campaign, however, after his cross was deflected into the path of matchwinner Caliste.
A wait which could end away to Ian Holloway’s Swindon Town in Tuesday’s latest EFL Trophy clash.
“He had a real big impact on the game,” Greg Lincoln, the club’s interim U21 head coach, said after Adiele’s brace lit up the 3-3 draw with Sutton a week ago. “If he’d finished off that run late on, it would have been a great hat-trick.
“He was equally impressive with his defensive work. He’s got real ability and high potential. It’s our job to keep challenging and nurturing those qualities to help push him to the next level.
“There was some really good stuff to take away from today, certainly.”
Carlton Cole explains why Freddie Potts is not starting for Nuno
Carlton Cole, West Ham’s Loans and Pathways Manager, knows better than most the best route for talented young players in Adiele’s position.
Cole explains Freddie Potts’ absence from Nuno Espirito Santo’s starting XI by highlighting the fierce pressure on those in claret and blue right now. Though one could argue that Scarles would have benefitted from similar caution.
Chucking Adiele into the deep end, without any armbands in sight, feels like a recipe for a confidence-ruining disaster.
“Nuno is trying to work miracles,” Cole said after Potts was restricted to another cameo display off the bench at Leeds. “It looks as if he is trying to find a formula that looks credible in his eyes. But, from the outside looking in, people are confused with the line-up.
“I think there’s a little bit of protection for Potts. He’s a young player, he’s just come back from loan. We have to try and protect our future as well, because he could be a player for future generations to come.
“And I think it’s a cauldron, to go to Elland Road and get a result.”
