West Ham United academy starlet Louie Watson recently signed his first professional contract with the club. The 17 year old Ireland U18 international is a huge admirer of Manchester City star Kevin de Bruyne and tries to model his game around that of de Bruyne’s. As a youngster, he has the flair that footballers crave to have.

Speaking to the club’s official website, in March Watson said: “I like to score and create goals; that is what I am about. One of the players I look up to is Kevin De Bruyne. He is the type of footballer I base my game around and he is the best at what he can do. At West Ham, I would say my style is most similar to Manuel Lanzini. But in the modern game, there is definitely a demand for midfielders to be able to do both; score and make goals, and break up play. If you can do both, you have of course got an advantage.”

Recently he told WHUFC.com “It is a great achievement, me and my family are really happy with what I have achieved and now I have got it I have got to work harder on and off the pitch to get to where I want to be and that’s the Premier League.

“It is the first contract and hopefully the first of many, so I have got to push on. I hope to have a strong season with the 23-s next season and ultimately get to the first team.

“It is all about how you do and how you present yourself on and off the pitch. If you are being the best you can be every day and do things properly, in training and in games, it will come together in your performances and that’s the main part of it for me, really.”

“It is every Academy player’s dream to play in the Premier League and training and being around the first-team squad enables you to see their habits and what they have to do to get there and stay there,” he said. “You have got to feed off what they do, on and off the pitch, and hopefully get a chance and then grab it with both hands when it comes.”

“I am working closely with Jack Collison, who is my mentor, going through my clips, working on extras and analyzing my training sessions and games to get the best out of me. That has been very important to me, helping me to learn and repeat new movements, skills and tricks to help me better myself.”

If he continues on the path he is now, he will surely reach the heights of his idols, Manuel Lanzini and de Bruyne in the years to come. A couple of seasons of consistent performances will ignite interest from other clubs in the league as well, especially the ones in the top 6, given the potential he is capable of reaching. He is surely an interesting talent to follow in the long-run and we at Beyond The Posts will keep updating you the fans about his progress. Cheers!