Former Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale will forever be the benchmark for talented, attack-minded full-backs – like West Ham United’s own Ollie Scarles, for example – boasting an eye for the spectacular and a future in the frontline.
Bale, of course, made a quite remarkable transformation from luckless left-back to world-leading winger while becoming the most expensive player in football history over a decade ago.
Of course, such heights are seldom reached. And Ollie Scarles has a long old way to go before he is thundering overhead kicks into the back of the net during the Champions League final.
But as the England Under-20 ace picks up West Ham’s Young Player of the Year award on the back of an impressive breakout season, former academy coach Carlton Cole cannot help but wonder if Scarles’ future lies – a la Bale in his early days with Tottenham – a little further forward.
Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images
Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images
Carlton Cole tips Ollie Scarles to develop into a West Ham United winger
Speaking on the Ironcast podcast, Cole recalls one particularly eye-catching Scarles finish from back in the 19-year-old’s academy days.
The left-back actually produced six goals and seven assists during 45 appearances in West Ham’s Under-23 set-up, including a glorious free-kick against Tottenham.
One ex-Spurs talisman Bale himself would have been proud of.
“You’ve got goals in you! I’ve seen you score worldies!,” Cole says opposite Scarles, when asked if the teenager could blossom from a full-back into a forward later down the line.
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“I remember one goal you scored, I think it was at Little Heath [home of West Ham’s U18s]. You dribbled down the left and then you hit it from distance and it just went top bins.
“You saved my bacon, that’s why I remember it! We were losing and you got us back into the game. I remember that goal.
“There are certain players who have got that special quality where you think ‘Yeah, he’s going all the way’. Or, there will be times where he sees a pass and he’s the only one who has seen it. So you get to practice these things that I’ve seen you do, you get to do it in the first team now.
“You’re doing it.”
Scarles is determined to take his academy form into Graham Potter’s first-team
A member of West Ham’s 2023 FA Youth Cup-winning team, Scarles heads into the final matchday of the 2024/25 Premier League season with six starts and a total of 14 appearances under his belt. Most of those coming since Graham Potter replaced Julen Lopetegui in the future.
Scarles could step into Aaron Cresswell’s shoes from next term onwards. A man 16 years his senior is leaving The Hammers when his contract expires in July. For now, however, Scarles’ focus is firmly fixed upon maintaining his current rate of progress.
A change in position, if it is to arrive later down the line, will happen when it happens.
“Maybe [I can play in a more attacking role in the future],” a determined and self-confident Scarles adds, still younger than Bale was when he really started to come out of his shell in North London.
“I don’t shy away from anything. I try and show my ability. That is what I have always said to myself, I am not just going to back down from a challenge.
“I am going to play how I normally play, how I played throughout my academy career. Keep doing things that I’m doing because, realistically, that is what has got me to where I am now.
“So, why would I stop doing it?”