Former West Ham and Manchester City centre back Jamal Baptiste, 20, appears to be on trial at Everton after he was released by the Premier League champions in June.
Despite not appearing on the Everton list of u19 or u21 players the defender played for the Everton u21s against his former side in a 5-0 defeat today, starting alongside Reece Welch at the heart of the Everton defence.
The defender was given his debut by West Ham London side in an FA Cup tie with Doncaster in 2021 and also played 90 minutes of a Europa League tie for the club against Dynamo Zagreb. He has represented England at u16, u17 and u19 level and is one of the most highly regarded youngsters to come out of the West Ham academy in recent years.
He left West Ham as a free agent after citing the need for first team football and signed for Manchester City, where he was sent on loan to Lommel in Belgium. He made three appearances there before returning to Manchester where he was released this summer.
Staff at West Ham said the pacey, powerful defender could be as good as Rio Ferdinand. Speaking on the Inside Irons Episode Three podcast, Carlton Cole said: “There’s loads to be looking forward to at the moment, there’s a lot of young English prospects coming through.
“Especially Jamal Baptiste that I’m a massive fan of. Well he’s training with the first team at the moment (which tells you how highly rated he is) so I think he’s definitely a massive prospect.
“He’s going to be the next Anton Ferdinand hopefully or the next Rio. So hopefully we can these boys on the right track and help them transition into being a professional footballer full-time.”
However, Baptiste’s career seems to have stalled since and earlier this year he was caught driving while inhaling nitrous oxide, or ‘laughing gas’. He pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention in February, given six points and paid £1,510 in the shape of a fine, victim surcharge and costs.
The youngster, now 20, was also diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome while at West Ham and has admitted issues with time-keeping – something manager David Moyes alluded at the time when he suggested the player ‘had not helped himself’ in some situations.
He was spotted on trial with Portsmouth in the summer but has not yet signed for a club and it seems he is training and playing for Everton u21s. The club has not confirmed if he has been offered a contract.