West Ham United teenager Callum Marshall has signed his first professional contract after a stellar 2022 campaign.
The 18-year-old forward, who joined West Ham in January, has had a stunning calendar year, most recently scoring in the under-18s’ 4-2 win over Chelsea in Premier League South on Tuesday.
Marshall’s impressive year has also seen him play for Northern Ireland’s under-19s so in light of this, here is more nformation about one of the Hammers' brightest young talents.
READ MORE: West Ham's under-18s continue high-flying form against Chelsea with comeback victory
Who is he?
Callum Marshall is an 18-year-old, 5’ 8” forward born in Glengormley, Northern Ireland, who can play as a central striker and as a right winger.
He signed for West Ham in January from Northern Ireland outfit Linfield, where he played four times and scored once at senior level. The teenager signed his first professional contract at West Ham on Tuesday.
His career to date
After coming through the ranks at Linfield, having earlier played for Glentoran’s youth side, Marshall made four senior appearances for the Northern Irish side at club level in the 2021/22 season, with his debut coming in November 2021.
His debut came in the JBE League Cup, starting in an 11-0 win over third division side PSNI. Marshall scored the opening goal in the tenth minute before coming off after 28 minutes in the win.
Marshall then came off the bench a week later in the quarter-final defeat to Ballymena before making two appearances in the Danske Banke Premiership in late cameo roles over Carrick Rangers and Coleraine, before joining West Ham in January, having been at the club on trial in December 2021.
In the second half of the 2021/22 season, Marshall played 15 times and made ten starts in all competitions for the under-18s, scoring nine goals and providing one assist. Marshall made his one and only cap for Northern Ireland’s under-18s, playing the duration of a 2-0 defeat to Belgium in March.
Marshall’s 2022/23 season so far
Marshall’s campaign started in sublime fashion after goals in the Next Generation Cup in July, scoring a hat-trick in the 4-3 semi-final win over Tottenham Hotspur and netting four more in the 8-0 final win over Crystal Palace.
The Northern Irish winger has so far played just five times in the Under-18 Premier League South, but is the club’s top scorer in the division with seven goals, including a hat-trick against Palace on the opening weekend of the campaign and once in the 4-2 win over Chelsea on Tuesday afternoon, with his professional contract being announced later that day.
The winger has made seven appearances for the club’s under-21s across Premier League 2 and the Papa John’s Trophy, scoring once in the league during a 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers in the league.
Earlier this season, Marshall won his first two caps for his country at under-19s level, making his debut in a 2-2 draw with Slovenia in September before scoring in a 2-0 win over Moldova six days later. Both of those games were qualifiers for next year’s Under-19s European Championships.
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