West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic has heaped praise on Edimilson Fernandes, following the youngster’s impressive performance in the 2-1 win over Chelsea in the EFL Cup on Wednesday night.
The 20-year-old, who joined West Ham from Swiss outfit FC Sion on a four-year deal in the summer, scored his maiden goal for the Hammers in their EFL Cup victory over the Blues at the Olympic Stadium.
Fernandes found the back of the net in the 48th minute to double West Ham’s advantage after Cheikhou Kouyate gave the hosts a first half lead.
Although Gary Cahill pulled one back for Chelsea in injury time, West Ham managed to hold on and progress to the next round of the EFL Cup, where they will face Manchester United.
And Bilic, who admitted that Fernandes is a very talented player, however, insisted that the youngster needs to keep working hard.
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“He is very young and he’s relatively unknown in England”, he told West Ham’s official site.
“I would be lying if I said I expected him to break into the side so quickly.
“He presents himself very well in training and he is a very talented player who needs to keep working hard.
“He has got everything; stamina, he has got technique and skill and a good football brain and he should bring us a lot of qualities.”
Fernandes has thus far clocked up 266 minutes of action over five appearances in all competitions for West Ham.
