David Moyes feels that a transfer to Sunderland is a good move for West Ham academy product Ajibola Alese.
The 21-year-old defender completed a permanent move to the Stadium of Light last month, signing a three-year deal with a club option for an additional year. Alese spent 14 years with the Hammers and captained the U18 and U21 sides, as well as earning 19 caps for England at youth level.
Born in Islington, Alese made his senior debut for West Ham in September 2020 in a 5-1 win against Hull City in the Carabao Cup. He also played the full 90 minutes of the 1-0 defeat to Dinamo Zagreb in last season’s Europa League.
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The young defender also featured in pre-season friendlies against Servette and Ipswich Town this summer, scoring the opener in a 2-0 win in the latter fixture. But regular first-team football was unlikely to happen at his boyhood club this season, especially with West Ham stocked up with five centre-backs including Kurt Zoma, Craig Dawson, Angelo Ogbonna, Issa Diop and £30million summer signing Nayef Aguerd.
Now aged 21, Alese felt it was time to move elsewhere. A transfer to Wearside and a chance to play in the Championship came calling and Moyes says a number of clubs were interested in the defender.
“We felt it was right he wanted to go. It was a good move. A couple of teams came in for him,” Moyes told football.london.
“It was good for the boy he has been a really good boy. He has worked well and we like him a lot. We thought to give him an opportunity was the best thing as we didn’t see a chance for him to heavily feature in the first team.”
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