A season which began with such promise for former West Ham United starlet Divin Mubama looks destined for a highly unsatisfactory ending.
You would struggle to find a player in the whole of the Football League whose season better mirrors that of his club as a whole.
Mubama fired Stoke City past Derby County on the opening day of the Championship campaign. His first senior league start, on loan from Manchester City, and a first senior league goal. The Hammers graduate struck again as the Potters stormed into top spot on matchday two.
Out of favour at Stoke, no future at Man City…
What message do you have for Divin Mubama now?
Divin Mubama - England v Moldova - UEFA U21 EURO 2027 Qualifier
Photo by Stephen Pond – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
By the time Mubama rattled a 57-minute hat-trick past Bristol City on November 1st, Mark Robins’ side were firmly entrenched in the promotion picture.
Five months later, however, 16th place Stoke are closer to the relegation zone than they are the play-offs.
And while the goals have dried up for the one-time West Ham United prospect, so too have the opportunities.
Divin Mubama’s West Ham United exit has gone wrong
As explained by the Stoke Sentinel, Robins has taken to leaving Divin Mubama out of his squad in recent weeks. This, coupled with an injury picked up in January, means a striker with five goals in seven games for England’s Under-21s has played just 25 minutes during Stoke’s last 15 Championship matches.
Divin Mubama celebrates during Stoke City v Bristol City - Sky Bet Championship
Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images
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The Sentinel suggest that, ahead of Saturday’s trip to Wrexham, Mubama may be missing from the team sheet again. He has gone from Robins’ first-choice number nine to his fourth; behind Sam Gallagher, Lamine Cisse and January signing Milan Smit.
He might even have slipped to fifth, had Robert Bozenik not been so unfortunate with injuries.
While Nuno defended Max Kilman following an audible chorus of boos during West Ham’s FA Cup exit at the hands of Leeds, patience with Mubama ran out in the midst of a twelve-game barren spell either side of Christmas.
Mubama, too, has faced jeers from an unimpressed fanbase.
“What I would say is that he has to be better and understand what is required of him. Perceptions are everything really and you have to make sure that is right first,” Robins said after Mubama was booed off during a 2-1 home defeat by Sheffield United in December.
“I understand, I’m not stupid, but I would ask that [booing] doesn’t happen because it doesn’t help anybody. If I feel that someone is not performing or underperforming, then it is down to me to make sure they do or they don’t start. It’s as simple as that.
“You have to earn the right to be in the team.”
Flash forward to mid-April, following three games out of the matchday squad, Mubama now finds himself under pressure to ‘earn the right’ for a spot on the bench, let alone the starting XI.
What is the WEIRDEST West Ham transfer you can remember? 😵💫
Surely Faubert to Real Madrid is up there…
Real Madrid's French midfielder Julien Faubert attends a training session in Madrid on April 30, 2009. Real Madrid will play 'El Clasico' match against arch-rivals Barcelona on May 02, 2009, a crucial match in deciding the league title this season, as Real are just four points behind the Catalan giants at the top of the table with just five matches to play.
Josh Ajala and co should watch Mubama’s situation closely
A warning, then, to West Ham’s current crop of youth-team goal-getters; Josh Ajala, Josh Landers, Daniel Cummings.
Prolific at Premier League 2 level and with the England Under-21s, Mubama’s Stoke City struggles provide a brutal reminder about the considerable gulf between the reserve-team game and the unforgiving, dog-eat-dog world of senior football.
Furthermore, when you factor in that Man City do not envisage a first-team future for Mubama at the Etihad, his decision to turn down a new contract at West Ham feels like a cautionary tale for all East London-based youngsters considering their options.
The grass is not always greener elsewhere. That’s if there is any grass on the other side of the fence at all.
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