Diego Poyet is targeting first-team football with West Ham United this year.

The 20-year-old joined from Charlton Athletic last summer but has seen few opportunities at Upton Park since arriving.

Opportunities have been limited for the youngster

The Spaniard, who has turned out for both England and Uruguay at youth level, arrived in the country as a two-year-old and joined Charlton at the age of 11. He then broke into their first team at 17-years-old, making 20 appearances in the 2013-14 season.

West Ham were quickly interested in him and snapped the player up on a four-year deal last summer, the attraction of Premier League football persuading Poyet to leave a club he had spent eight years with.

Yet, he has made just five appearances since joining and spent part of the last season on loan in the Championship with Huddersfield Town, playing for them twice.

Eager to develop at the Hammers

Via Sky Sports, when asked about another loan move for the coming season, Poyet replied saying that his "preference" is "to be at West Ham." 

He said that West Ham is "where [he] want[s] to be" and "where [he] want[s] to play," but that if the manager tells him he is "better off going out on loan," he will "respect him for that and [he] will do that." However, he remained firm in saying that, "until [he is] told to leave, [he is] not going anywhere," determined to fight for his place.

With West Ham being under the new management of Slaven Bilic, Poyet is keen "to impress" and "get into his good books" early on. The Europa League has also increased the player's chances of playing this season, with rotation likely to be required as the club try and balance four competitions at once. Yet, it does "depend" on "how far" the team get in these competitions.

Things have started well for the player though, as he started in West Ham's first qualifying match in the Europa League earlier this week, a 3-0 victory over Andorran side Lusitans.

The 20-year-old recognises that an early exit in the League Cup last season played a part in limiting his chances at Upton Park, making it "difficult" for him to get an opportunity to impress. Still, he remains positive, concluding by saying that "hopefully, fingers crossed, some youngsters will get the chance to play" this season.