James Tomkins

Mercedes


The Englishman and his friends posing on the hood of his luxurious ride during his time with West Ham United.

Born in Basildon, England, the aspiring footballer was spotted while playing for his local Sunday League side and signed to West Ham United's academy at the age of seven in 1997, starting out as a striker but eventually switching to his position of centre-back by the time he had graduated the youth ranks a decade later. The centre-back made his West Ham and Premier League debut in a 1-1 draw against Everton on 22 March 2008, and won the Young Hammer of the Year award to cap-off a successful debut season. A decade with The Hammer's senior team saw the English defender make over 200 appearances, chipping in with 11 goals and 12 assist. The lowest ebb of his career came during the 2010/11 Premier League season as West Ham were relegated to the EFL Championship, however, in hindsight it may have turned out to be the turning point in the defender's career, a fringe player up until then, the 2011/12 EFL Championship campaign saw the defender come to the fore with 44 league appearances as West Ham won promotion back to the Premier League via playoffs, the defender was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Season for his outstanding performances. On 5 July 2016, the Englishman's tenure at West Ham came to an end, he signed for fellow Premier League club Crystal Palace on a five-year-deal for a fee of £10 million. His Premier League record for both London clubs stand at 245 appearances with 55 clean sheets to his name.