West Ham teenager was tipped for ‘massive future’ - Blackburn Rovers, Hull City shared same shock | OneFootball

Martin Samuelsen arrived at both Rovers and the Tigers with huge promise after an impressive earlier spell at Peterborough United

Blackburn Rovers and Hull City both shared the same shock with former West Ham United prospect Martin Samuelsen.

The Norwegian was once tipped for a 'massive future" in English football, so FLW take a look at what went wrong at Rovers and the Tigers specifically, whilst also touching on some of his other transfers.

Before joining Hull permanently as a 22-year-old six years ago, Samuelsen had a total of six loan spells away from the Hammers. Four of these were with EFL clubs. Yes, one was Blackburn, but the others were Peterborough United (twice) and Burton Albion.

Martin Samuelsen was tipped for a 'massive future' at West Ham United

When Samuelsen returned from his second loan spell at Posh in 2017, West Ham coach Graham Westley sung the attacking midfielder/winger’s praises after he scored a brace for the U23s.

This was because the player was criticised by then-Peterborough manager Grant McCann, who claimed in an interview on the club’s YouTube channel that Samuelsen had lost his spark after failing at Blackburn.

Westley told West Ham's official website, "I read an article this week about Martin Samuelsen and confidence. People give players confidence, and you saw tonight what an absolutely outstanding talent we have on our hands.

"He’s only 19 and we had too much for them. Let’s not forget how talented some of our players really are," the coach added. "He didn’t have the confidence to try things that he once did, when he was here. I wanted him to express himself more."

Regarding his future, Westley was still adamant the youngster would go on to do great things, concluding with, "He needs to get somewhere where he can play week in week out. He should’ve come here at the start of the season, but he decided to go to the Championship. He’s a great kid, he’ll have a massive future in the game."

Perhaps the spark McCann was referring to was what Samuelsen showed during his first spell at the club in 15/16. For some context, in a televised FA Cup fourth round replay against West Brom, Newcastle United and Rovers legend Alan Shearer had labelled the Norwegian one of the 'stars of the show.'

Blackburn Rovers and Hull City shared the same Martin Samuelsen shock

Prior to the aforementioned comments made by Westley, Samuelson, of course, went to Blackburn on loan and never came close to the impact he first made at Peterborough.

He only made three league appearances for Rovers before the season‑long agreement was terminated in November, having arrived in August. When the deal was cut-short, then-Blackburn boss Owen Coyle said Samuelsen's family thought he should be starting games, which the club couldn’t guarantee.

"We had a good chat and Martin's family felt that he wanted to be starting games and at this moment in time we couldn't guarantee him that," Coyle admitted, "so we agreed that it was in his best interest to return to West Ham. He's a great lad and we wish him well."

Years later, in many ways, Hull City’s experience with Samuelsen echoed Blackburn’s, with both clubs left surprised by how little they ultimately saw of a player who arrived with such a high reputation.

Samuelsen joining the Tigers on a permanent deal in January 2020 appeared to be somewhat of a low‑risk gamble on a creative forward entering what should have been his prime years. Especially since he had managed 11 goals and one assist in his final loan spell as a West Ham player, at Eliteserien side FK Haugesund, which bettered any return he had in England.

Instead, he struggled to nail down a regular role in the Championship and then League One, managing only seven and five league outings across two seasons in East Yorkshire before a loan move to AaB in Denmark and, ultimately, a permanent return to Haugesund in 2021.

Even since leaving English football for good, Samuelsen has failed to play over 20 games across five full seasons. As per FotMob data, he only started one game for his boyhood club this past Norwegian season, which ended in December.

At both Rovers and Hull, he was essentially a really poor squad option rather than a go‑to attacking weapon. This, clearly, went against the level of hype that followed him from his West Ham days and that early Peterborough spell.