According to claims from Football London, West Ham are likely to send academy prospect Nathan Holland out on loan when the transfer window reopens in January
The Hammers are keen to arrange a temporary move away from East London during the mid-season trading period to allow the 21-year-old to further his development with regular minutes.
Holland is yet to make a single appearance for West Ham in the Premier League this season, although he did feature in the ignominious 4-0 defeat at the hands of Oxford United in the League Cup.
The highly-rated attacking midfielder was one of the few players to emerge with some credit from an otherwise disappointing team effort but the Hammers believe he still needs some polishing to get himself ready for the Premier League, despite being tipped by many to play a part under Manuel Pellegrini this term.
Holland’s start against Oxford United was only his second senior appearance for the Hammers, having made his professional bow in the same competition in the 2017-18 campaign.
Held in high regard by the youth coaching staff, the youngster is yet to make his mark at the highest level, despite being on the fringes of the first-team for quite a long time now.
The 21-year-old, who spent nine years at Everton before switching boats to join West Ham in 2017, has been a regular for the Hammers at the U-23 level in the Premier League 2, accumulating 9 goals and 13 assists in 39 appearances, but the Hammers apparently feel that he needs to get some senior experience under his belt in order to stake a claim for a first-team role.
To that end, West Ham sending Nathan Holland out on loan in January could be a masterstroke from Pellegrini and a stance that could potentially pay rich dividends as far as the 21-year-old’s growth and development is concerned.
With established professionals like Felipe Anderson, Andriy Yarmolenko, Pablo Fornals, Michail Antonio, Robert Snodgrass and Manuel Lanzini all competing for places in the attacking ranks at the London Stadium, it is going to be extremely difficult for a rookie like Nathan Holland to break into Pellegrini’s plans, no matter how talented he is.
And even if he does get to play a few cameos off the bench, it would hardly do a world of good to his development. The 21-year-old is still in the formative years of his career and he needs to play regularly in order to work on the rough edges in his game.
Yes, he has done well for the U-23s cutting the mustard in senior professional football takes a lot more than just talent and potential and Holland, who has both in abundance, could be ready to push hard for a first-team place next season if he manages to enhance his profile with some valuable experience on loan at some Football League club.
With Josh Cullen and Grady Diangana starring on loan for Charlton Athletic and West Brom respectively in the Championship, Holland could be the next in the queue from the West Ham youth system to leave on a temporary spell in January.
Suffice to say, West Ham arranging a loan move for Nathan Holland would definitely be a step in the right direction.
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