West Ham United supporters with a keen eye on the academy will have known all about Josh Ajala even before he burst onto the scene at St Mary’s.

Back in August, Ajala marked his full Hammers debut with an EFL Cup brace as a youthful outfit came from behind to beat Southampton 4-1 in the second-round.

“I think the one match that really sticks out is the U18 Premier League Cup final, when we beat Reading 2-1 in April 2025 and I scored both goals,” Ajala tells the club’s official website. “It was the first time the club had won the competition, so it was a very special night.

“It was at Reading’s main stadium, so it was a big occasion. And we’d gone out of the FA Youth Cup early that season, so we were really eager to do well in the Premier League Cup. It was a great feeling to win, and there were some pretty wild scenes at full-time.”

Last season, West Ham became the first side to win the Premier League Cup at three different age groups. A team containing the likes of Reece Oxford, Josh Cullen, Grady Diangana and Marcus Browne beat Hull City on penalties in the U21 edition a decade ago. Joel Kerr fired the Hammers’ U17s to victory over Blackburn Rovers in April, one year after Ajala’s heroics in Berkshire.

Kenny Brown thinks Ajala has ‘all the attributes’ to go far

There are shades of his opener away to Southampton in the goal which put the Hammers ahead at Reading that night. The England U20 international found space in the box to convert a Lewis Orford corner on the Banks of the Solent.

A year-and-a-half before that, he was in the right place at the right time to score from another set-piece. His second, a fine header, was also reminiscent of his dream first start at senior level.

Academy manager Kenny Brown believes that Ajala has ‘all the attributes’ to make it in the men’s game, and his ability to finish with both feet as well as his head certainly bodes well for a bright future.

That Reading match might be Ajala’s favourite game but opener at Southampton is his favourite goal to date.

“My first goal in the Southampton match [is my favourite], because it was my first-ever senior goal! I can’t even describe the feeling I had when it went in,” Ajala beams. “It came from a corner, which I wasn’t really expecting to score from, and when it went in I didn’t know what to do! The first thing I did was thank God, and then I did a knee slide!”