Mark Noble says West Ham United can save millions in the transfer market by continuing to produce players from their academy.
The former Hammers captain hung up his boots at the end of last season, ending an 18 year career with the east London outfit. Following his retirement, he was named as the club's new sporting director and started the role at the start of the year.
The last transfer window saw David Moyes' side remain quiet while others in the Premier League splurged large sums of money, notably Chelsea adding Enzo Fernandez for a record-breaking £107million as well as beating rivals Arsenal to Mykhailo Mudryk for a reported £80m.
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West Ham don't have that kind of money to spend but what they do have is a world-renowned academy which has produced a number of talents, most recently Declan Rice who was has attracted interest from a number of Premier League clubs.
And Noble believes it is important for Rush Green to keep producing players not only to save money but to keep the first-team squad packed with home-grown talent.
“In this role, I’ve found a real affection for working with the academy, and trying to get as many players into the first team as we can,” he told Standard Sport. “The boy Chelsea signed from Benfica [Enzo Fernandez] went there for €15million and Chelsea had to spend £105m-plus for him. It just shows you that recruiting young players is getting harder and harder. You need a Declan Rice from the academy, because we can’t spend that amount on a player, that’s for sure.
“It’s so important to bring the young boys through, because any young English player who plays in the Premier League all of a sudden has a £30m price tag and, for us, that’s fantastic. And it’s nice to know at some point we might not have to spend loads of money if we can bring players through.”
Noble still trains with West Ham United's youth teams in order to get a gauge for the players and help them transition to the first team.
Merging his old career with his new, the 35-year-old admitted that he gets stuck in with West Ham's youngsters as it's the only way to see what they are like ahead of potential first-team opportunities.
“I still put my boots on and train with the Under-18s and the U21s, because you only know first-hand what they’re like when you’re training with them,” Noble told .
“It’s great, because I get to see them first-hand, and I’m probably the best person in the world for them to ask questions about what it’s like to break into the first team.”
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