West Ham United left-back Aaron Cresswell has stated that he always knew Sam Byram was good enough to play in the Premier League, following the defender’s impressive debut in the 2-2 draw with Manchester City at the weekend.
The Hammers, who beat off competition from Everton to snap up Byram on a four-and-a-half-year deal from Leeds United last week, named him on the bench against the Citizens.
But the 22-year-old gave a good account of himself after coming on as a 13th minute substitute at Upton Park in place of the injured Carl Jenkinson.
And Cresswell, who played against Byram on a number of occasions in the Championship during his time at Ipswich Town, insisted that he always knew the former Leeds man had it in him to shine in the Premier League.
“I want to say a word or two about Sam Byram”, he wrote on his blog on the club website.
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“I’ve played against Sam in the Championship many times when I was at Ipswich and he’s still only 22 and has plenty of years ahead of him in the game.
“He’s played well over 100 games at the age of 22 and I always knew he was good enough to play in the Premier League, and he was fantastic against Manchester City.”
Byram, who is a product of Leeds’ youth system, will miss West Ham’s FA Cup game against Liverpool tomorrow as he is cup-tied after representing the Whites in the competition this season.
