West Ham United have started the season in good form regardless of the notable sale of Declan Rice in the summer to Arsenal, winning half of their games so far and sitting in seventh spot.
It's been the fresh blood added into the building for the Hammers that has seen them perform so well in the infancy of this campaign, the midfield additions of Mohammed Kudus and James Ward-Prowse have been inspired buys by David Moyes – both new faces contributing to 11 of the club's goals in all competitions so far, Ward-Prowse already notching up six assists.
The likes of Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen have also been ever reliable for the Hammers, both players scoring recently in a dominant 2-0 victory against a hapless Sheffield United side at the London Stadium.
It's looking rosy away from just the current crop of first team performers at West Ham too, with teenager Callum Marshall an academy prospect being hyped up to be the next best thing rising through the ranks at the club.
Who is Callum Marshall?
Winning the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for September, Marshall is highly regarded at West Ham at just 18 years of age.
Drawing comparisons to Northern Ireland goalscoring hero David Healy – according to Sammy McIlroy – Marshall born in Glengormley and featured for Northern Irish side Linfield before joining the Irons in 2022 – there's lots of expectation in the air that the youngster will go on to have a fantastic career.
He has 40 goals to his name for both West Ham U18's and U21's, already scoring eight times this campaign in the Premier League 2 from just six starts.
It's even led to the prolific marksman being capped by his country at senior level already, featuring twice for his nation under Michael O'Neill against Denmark and San Marino.
The Northern Ireland manager doesn't want to put too much pressure on the young man's shoulders, although an impressive teenage attacker that "excites people" will always have people raving about the potential he possesses.
The former Stoke City boss said: “I can’t think back to when we’ve had a young striker – they generally come in later…A young striker coming in always excites people.
"Like every country, you want somebody at the top end of the pitch who can be a natural goalscorer, and without putting any burden on Callum, he has the potential and has shown the potential certainly since we’ve had him in. We’ve seen that he has the attributes."
What path could Callum Marshall follow at West Ham?
West Ham will hope that Marshall will follow a similar trajectory to former talisman, Rice, albeit that it doesn't end with another club poaching him.
The England international gradually rose through the ranks to become the star-man for the Hammers, going from a player on the fringes waiting for his moment in the spotlight to captaining the club to Europa Conference League glory, before his £105m departure to the Emirates.
There's no reason why the teenage striker can't start knocking on the door of the first team sooner rather than later, with West Ham's main striker, Michail Antonio, 33 years of age with his career running down.
Likewise, Moyes' other option as an out-and-out striker is Danny Ings, the ex Burnley man 31 years of age and prone to an injury, having netted just three goals for the club to date.
Marshall will just continue plugging away in the youth set-up for the time being, scoring goals by the bucket load if recent evidence is anything to go off.
But, don't be surprised if he's starring up top for the Hammers in a few years time as a raw, exciting and hungry figure, who could potentially be the next best thing since Rice.
