After his goal for West Ham in the 1-4 win versus Aston Villa the away end full of Hammers fans started singing “Ben Johnson he’s one of our own”.

West Ham United look to have found their latest graduate from their well-respected academy ready to make a name for himself in the first team.

Johnson, who is a couple months away from his 22nd birthday, has been at the Hammers since he was just seven years of age coming through the ranks at the ‘Academy of Football’. Johnson featured regularly in every age group he played in and started life at West Ham as a winger but was converted to a full-back as his career progressed.

The Start

It could certainly be said that football is in Johnson’s genes; he is the cousin of ex-Tottenham defender Ledley King and nephew of ex-Manchester United defender Paul Parker. For Johnson, while still in the formative years of his career, being able to call on the advice of two ex-professional family members with a wealth of experience as he progresses through his own career, could prove to be invaluable.

Aged 16, Johnson became a full-time scholar at the West Ham academy. That year he went on to star for the club’s U18 side, starting in 19 matches. Later that same season he made his Premier League 2 (U23’s) debut.

The following season was another important one for Johnson’s development as he continued his rise through West Ham’s ranks. He was named on the bench in the Premier League for the first time against Manchester City in December 2017. After this, he captained the U23’s for the first time and made 14 appearances in the Premier League 2.

First Team Debut

It was just over a year before Johnson wore a West Ham shirt for his Premier League game. Capable of playing at right-back or left-back, his first game came in an away match at Manchester City in February 2019. Johnson started at left-back playing 63 minutes before being substituted for veteran full-back Pablo Zabaleta.

A few weeks after his debut, Johnson extended his deal with the East London club putting pen to paper on a new contract until summer 2022. He also enjoyed another successful season for the Hammers U23’s, making 20 Premier League 2 appearances.

The 2019/20 season was a challenging one for West Ham as the club were involved in a relegation battle. Johnson played his part in keeping the Hammers up starting the last three Premier League matches that helped secure Premier League status for another year. Meanwhile, he continued to make appearances for the U23’s as they won promotion from the second division of academy football.

Potential Shining Through

What followed for the full-back was huge in terms of his development and progression as a young player. Johnson enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2020/21, making a career high 20 appearances for the first team across all competitions, 14 of which were in the Premier League.

He scored his first goal for West Ham in a 2-2 draw against Brighton. As Johnson celebrated, you could see the youngster’s face beaming with pride and pure joy. His teammates gathered around him, all of whom looked delighted for him, as the youngster soaked up a massive moment in his career.

Speaking after his goal against Brighton, Johnson told West Ham TV: “To get off the mark in the Prem, is a great feeling, the way I took it as well, I’m really happy about that.”

In-Form Irons

This brings us to the current season with the Hammers flying under David Moyes, currently third in the Premier League, top of their Europa League group and through to the Carabao Cup quarter-final after beating holders Man City.

West Ham’s first choice right-back, Czech international Vladimir Coufal, has so far only made nine Premier League appearances due to him picking up a groin injury. Since his absence from mid-October, Johnson has been in the West Ham starting XI and his performances have more than justified him keeping his place in the team ahead of Coufal, who has now returned.

In a recent interview with the Evening Standard, Coufal heaped praise on 21-year-old saying: “Johnson is a young lad from our academy – he did well when I was injured.”

He added: “I need to praise him because he scored a goal and he did really well in defence, so very, very good.”

High Praise

This season, Johnson has already made nine appearances for the first team, picking up minutes in the Premier League, Europa League and EFL Cup. He has started in four consecutive Premier League wins for West Ham over the last month against Everton, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Liverpool on top of wins in the Europa League.

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Speaking after the win against Tottenham, manager David Moyes emphasised how pleased he was with Johnson’s performances since coming into the team: “I actually thought young Ben Johnson, when you think that we’ve been without a couple of the right-backs recently, has had three games this week, and I thought he was fabulous.”

New Deal Around the Corner?

West Ham is a club that has always taken pride in its academy. With his excellent performances in recent weeks, Johnson has certainly endeared himself to the Hammers’ faithful. West Ham fans will be hoping they have found themselves another youngster who, like Declan Rice, who can have a long and successful future in the first team.

Johnson’s contract expires next summer, it seems an almost certainty that West Ham will look to tie the full-back down to a new long-term deal in the near future.

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