West Ham United's roster of youth players has continued to grow, as midfielder Alfie Lewis signed his first professional contract with the Hammers to keep him at the London Stadium until 2020.

An awful lot to come from him

The 17-year-old has been impressive across numerous levels of the club academy this season, with the midfielder been a regular starter for the under-18's under the guidance of Mark Phillips and Steve Potts

The Englishman has impressed so much that he has made 11 appearances for the under-23's side including their failed Checkatrade Trophy campaign, and Lewis shared his delight at signing on the dotted line.

"This is the contract you always want when you first join the Club," Lewis told whufc.com. "I’ve done my scholarship and now I’m on my pro deal, so I’m looking forward to it."

“Hard works pays off, like they say," the youngster stated. "Over the years, training and playing games."

"It’s great now I have got this deal but I can’t sit back on it," Lewis added. "I need to keep pushing on."

"It’s not like he’s an early developer, he has plenty more development in him" Academy Director Terry Westley stated. "He deserves his professional contract."

Third time lucky ?

The Hammers have impressed in their youth levels in terms of silverware, with the U23's winning their Premier League Division Two play-off and have a chance again when they take a select group to the Hong Kong Citi Soccer Sevens tournament.

The Hammers have come very close in the last two years losing the final to both Atletico Madrid and Aston Villa, and Phillps stated that his hopes to go one step further on this occasion.

“We’ve been there the last two years," Phillips stated ahead of the trip. "It’s a very well run, professional tournament with good teams in it.”

“This year, it will be a massive ask to get in the final with the likes of Marseille and Rangers in it," the coach conceded. "But it’s great for the players to play against different styles."

"On the finals day you can get a full house of around 7,000 people watching," Phillips concluded. "So hopefully we can get there again."