West Ham United need some respite from what has been a shocking start to 2024, with the chastening 6-0 home defeat against Arsenal leaving a pall of black smoke in east London.
It's a peculiar position; West Ham are outside of European contention in the Premier League only on goal difference, topped their Europa League group back in December and won the Europa Conference League last summer.
David Moyes is under fire and it would have been a bitter pill to swallow that it was Declan Rice, sold to Arsenal for £105m in the summer, who produced last weekend's talismanic performance at his old stomping ground.
It wouldn't be a bad move for Moyes to revisit his past success and promote a talented academy star to the first team, following in Rice's footsteps, with George Earthy producing some high-class performances this term.
West Ham's next Declan Rice
At the start of the 2023/24 campaign, homegrown talent Earthy penned a long-term contract with the Irons, clearly viewed by the club's powers that be as a future star in the first team.
A creative and attack-focused midfielder – who is also capable on the right flank – Earthy has been a prolific figure throughout his United youth career and has posted 37 goals and 25 assists across 102 matches, lauded for his "brilliant" displays by club insider ExWHUemployee.
This season, he has been in emphatic form, scoring nine goals and supplying six assists across 19 matches in all competitions and notably thriving in the EFL Trophy against senior opposition.
Indeed, as per Sofascore, the 19-year-old's three goal and one assist return from five matches in the EFL Trophy is an attractive tally but does not tell the full story of a remarkably rounded skill set, having completed 90% of his passes and averaged 1.4 goals and three ball recoveries per game.
He will definitely need to improve the defensive side of his game, making just 0.2 tackles and winning two duels each outing, but there is no questioning the thrilling quality woven into his core.
Indeed Rice was once at that stage, before going on to enjoy such glittering success rising through the ranks to the apex of Moyes' reign, completing 245 appearances, winning the club's past two Player of the Season awards and bringing riches – both monetarily and from a footballing standpoint – to the fore.
Having crashed out of the FA Cup against Championship outfit Bristol City last month and still seeking a maiden victory of the calendar year, Moyes needs to fashion some renewed positivity from somewhere and unleashing a talented academy member might be the perfect way to sway the fans back on his side.
Lucas Paqueta remains convalescent on the sidelines and will not return to action for several weeks, so a playmaker of Earthy's precocity could be the perfect tool to rekindle the feel-good factor that was so prominent at the London Stadium only a matter of months ago.
