West Ham United play host to Chelsea this lunchtime, and we may finally get to see one of our elite young talents in the squad.
Our academy is well known for being one of the very best in the game.
The West Ham under-21s are absolutely flying right now, after many of the talented under-18s were promoted in the summer.
Julen Lopetegui must be so excited at the sheer volume of elite young players he has at the London Stadium right now.
Whether he will use any of them regularly this season is highly doubtful if you ask me.
However, there is one teenager who I’m surprised we haven’t seen play a single competitive minute for us yet.
That could all change today though…
Luis Guilherme could be involved in the West Ham vs Chelsea clash
Luis Guilherme joined the Hammers from Palmeiras in the summer for a fee believed to be worth £25 million.
However, he’s still yet to play a single competitive minute for us.
It’s surprising that we haven’t seen Guilherme feature for West Ham yet, because he’s obviously a hugely talented young player.
When the teenager moved to the London Stadium, Paulo Buosi – the Palmeiras vice-president – absolutely raved about him, and told us all what to expect, by labelling him as ‘extraordinary’ and ‘sensational’.
The problem is, we haven’t even seen him in a West Ham shirt during a competitive match yet.
The Brazilian looked decent during some of the pre-season outings, but now he could be set to join the big boys on a Premier League match-day.
Guilherme’s time to shine for the Hammers?
West Ham’s under-21’s beat Newcastle’s youth team 1-0 last night, and Guilherme was nowhere to be seen.
The under-21s are flying high, and are sitting top of the table having won their opening four games of the season.
It goes without saying that Luis Guilherme could walk into that West Ham under-21s side though.
I think Lopetegui, Tim Steidten and co have been giving the teenager time to settle in to his new surroundings.
I can’t imagine how hard it would be moving from Brazil to London at such a young age.
Today’s clash with Chelsea could well be Luis Guilherme’s time to shine for West Ham. We’ll know for sure when the teams are released at 11:15 this morning.
