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AJI ALESE: A VIEW FROM THE WEST HAM PRESS BOX
So, we’ve brought in two young centre backs, Aji Alese and Daniel Ballard, to act as back up for the older and wiser pairing of Baily Wright and Danny Batth.
We caught up with West Ham journalist Jim Salveson, who is also head of
the Sport Social Podcast Network podcast.sport-social.co.uk, to find out if Alese has what it takes to cut it in the Championship...
Aji came from West Ham and seems to be very highly rated among the fan base. Were you sad to see him leave? I think football fans, maybe West Ham more than others, have a natural bias towards any home-grown talent. It’s always special to see a youth prospect climb through the ranks and become a regular first-teamer. So, there is always an element of sadness when a youngster moves on; especially one that has
been on the fringes of the first team.
As much as I would have liked to see him flourish in East London, West Ham rarely get these calls wrong. There are very few players who have left the club as promising youngsters and gone onto bigger things. Even the likes of Reece Oxford (who looked a sure-fire Premier League star) and Grady Diangana (who’s departure outraged fans) have failed to prove the club wrong when it comes to letting them go. I hope Aji proves them wrong, but I’m not sure it’ll happen.
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What kind of player can Sunderland fans expect Alese to be?
He’s big (well over 6ft), physical and, even at 21, a strong hardworking centre back. He’s got a bit of pace on him
too and is a natural left-footer, which adds a bit of value in the centre back world. Most recently for West Ham
he played in the dead-rubber Europa League match vs Dynamo Zagreb and at no point look out of place against seasoned professionals.
At 21 years old, and minimal experience at senior level, will he
be able to play regularly in the Championship?
Even though he’s young, I think he would have liked to have played more first-team football at this stage in his career and I have no doubt that would have been at the front of his mind with his move to the North East. He’ll want to be getting minutes on the pitch and proving himself week in week out.
The Championship is undoubtedly a more forgiving league than the Premier League and he has the attributes that will suit the style of play. He’s fast which means he can recover from the errors that any young centre back makes, and