Rising star: This 12-goal striker is available to Bilic and can immediately ignite West Ham season
COMMENT By Matt Farr
A lot has been said about West Ham’s Premier League survival credentials of late, with the club having spent the entirety of the campaign in the bottom-half of the table.
The Hammers have won just five of their 17 league this season, but their luck appears to have turned around having won their last two games on the bounce. In addition to a draw against Liverpool, the club are now unbeaten in three.
Slaven Bilic has had to cope without some of his key figures, including premier goalscorers Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho, who have both been out injured for large parts of the season.
The likes of Ashley Fletcher, Simone Zaza and Jonathan Calleri have so far failed to fill the void left by Carroll and Sakho in the goalscoring department, and the Hammers have managed just 19 league goals this season.
However, now is the time to hand another young West Ham striker the chance to shine, and that is Toni Martinez.
The teenage sensation has been in blistering form for West Ham’s under-23 side in recent weeks, and has scored 12 goals in just 11 appearances.
Joining from Valencia in April, the 19-year-old has taken no time at all to settle in England, and could be the man to restore hope to West Ham’s Premier League campaign.
Martinez was once again the star as the under-23 side beat Wolves 4-0 midweek, scoring a superb hat-trick to continue his clinical run, and the senior side could certainly use some of that fruitfulness in front of goal.
The step up from the reserves to the Premier League is a massive one, but Martinez is showing such great potential and his form simply cannot be ignored.
Plus, Bilic may need to try something new if things don’t continue to go their way after Christmas.
He is already rated very highly by West Ham’s youth and development coaches, and it is surely only a matter of time before Bilic takes notice and gives him a shot at the big-time.
In other West Ham news, superstar winger Michail Antonio has revealed what it took for his side to beat Hull on Saturday.