Lletget signs Hammers deal

Grant: Another youngster signed

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Sebastian Lletget has celebrated his 18th birthday by putting pen to paper on a professional contract with West Ham.

Lletget was spotted by Hammers scouts in California at the age of 13 and has trained on and off with the Premier League club for the past four-and-a-half years.

The attacking midfielder is thrilled to have earned a deal at Upton Park and is now looking forward to the next stage of his development.

Reflecting on his breakthrough moment as a youngster, Lletget told West Ham's official website: "I started playing at a club back in San Francisco called Sporting as Sporting Lisbon had brought their Academy over to the United States.

"It's a very competitive club, so that was my best chance of ever being seen by a European club.

"One day, I went to training as always and one of my coaches, Carlos Brasil, had a friend called Mike Leigh who was a scout for West Ham.

Established

"I played a game against an older team and did really well in front of him. He said 'OK' and invited me over to England.

"I came over when I was 13 and trained with the youth team because the Under 16s were not in. I had a great training session so they asked me to play that afternoon and I scored a goal with my first touch.

"After that game, I've been visiting and training with the club ever since. I have now signed my professional contract."

Lletget hopes to make an impact at West Ham but recognises that he will have to stay patient before he breaks into Avram Grant's first-team plans.

"In the upcoming season, I really want to get established and comfortable and play for the reserves, then maybe I'll get spotted by the manager," said Lletget, who has Italian heritage but would like to play for the USA at international level.

"Now I have signed I don't want to rush things and put extra pressure on myself," he said.

"I'm just going to take it step-by-step, day-by-day."