Arsenal and West Ham Eyeing Zimbabwean Teenage Sensation Tawanda Chirewa




Tawanda Chirewa
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West Ham United are competing with Arsenal to sign Ipswich Town’s exciting teenager starlet Tawanda Chirewa this summer, according to TWTD.

The 18-year-old became the Tractor Boys’ second-youngest player in history back in 2019 when he played in the EFL Trophy and he has continued his impressive form in the Under-23s with 12 goals this season in a league-winning campaign.

The Zimbabwe-born youngster was due to be out of contract this summer but Ipswich opted to extend his deal at Portman Road for another year and would like to make that stay even longer.

But the presence of West Ham and Arsenal might make that a difficult task for the League One club and TWTD also report that other clubs are keen although none are named.

Potential

Chirewa won’t be a player we see in the Irons first team for a good couple of years, if he even joins us, but we’re not attempting to buy him for right now anyway.

He would slot straight into our academy, probably floating between Under-18s and Under-23s football, to begin with as he looks to develop in the Academy of Football.

West Ham

David Moyes clearly takes an interest in what he’s seen of him so far and the West Ham scouts will be closely watching his performances for the Tractor Boys’ youth sides before making a proper move but they can’t wait around too long with Arsenal lurking as well.

Chirewa though is probably best heading out on loan if he joins us or the Gunners but he’d be even smarter to stay in Suffolk and fight his way into the Ipsiwhc senior side before dreaming of the bright lights of the Premier League.

Chirewa, 18, was one of the top performers for the U23s during 2021/22, scoring 12 times as the side coached by Kieron Dyer and then John McGreal topped Professional Development League Two South.

The Shenfield-raised forward was due to be out of contract this summer but the Blues recently took an option to keep him for a further season and are keen to keep him at Portman Road longer term.

However, we understand his performances for the U23s have attracted the attention of the Gunners and Hammers among others keen to recruit him into their development squads.

Chirewa, who qualifies to play international football for Zimbabwe, became Town’s second-youngest first-team player when he made his debut in the EFL Trophy tie at Colchester in November 2019 aged 16 years and 31 days old.