West Ham Under-21 midfielder Marcus Brown has signed his first professional contract with the club and is now looking to kick on.
The midfielder, who will turns 18 next month, has been with the club since he was eight and steadily rose through the ranks to break into their Under-21 side in recent times.
Appearing regularly for the Under-21s this season, Brown recently scored his first goal at the level in a 4-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and is one of the highly-rated talents in the club’s stable.
The 17-year-old has expressed his delight at signing his first professional contract and believes it will act as a massive fillip for his fledgling career.
Brown has been at the club for close to a decade and stressed that he wants to sign many more contracts with West Ham in the future.
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The midfielder told the club’s official website: "It's a massive opportunity to be at a club like West Ham at my age.
“I've been here for a very long time, since I was eight years old, so this is a proud moment for me.
"This is just the start, so I want to kick on and get more contracts in the future and continue to improve.”
West Ham have a good record of developing youngsters and England internationals such as Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Frank Lampard are all products of their academy.
Brown will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessors and make a name for himself in English football.
