West Ham have included young striker Carl Lawson in their Under-23s squad which travelled to Hong Kong for the Soccer Sevens tournament, according to a club insider.

The personal Twitter account named ‘Ex-WHU employee’ revealed to fan on Saturday afternoon that the Hammers had taken the 22-year-old currently on the books of Sunderland on trial as the youth team travels to Hong Kong.

“Carl Lawson is a forward, on trial from Sunderland and is out with the U23 squad in Hong Kong,” reported Ex-WHU employee, who is a reliable source of Hammers news and has broken a number of stories about the club this season.

Carl Lawson is a forward, on trial from Sunderland and is out with the U23 squad in Hong Kong — ExWHUemployee (@ExWHUemployee) May 27, 2017

Lawson has never made a senior appearance for the Sunderland first team, but he may have caught the West Ham coaches attention after playing against their Under-23s side with Middlesbrough in April during a trial with the north east club.

His contract with the Black Cats is also set to expire at the end of the next month and West Ham scouts may see the youngster as a player of potential who can add to their team for free and the Hammers may also be looking to take advantage of Sunderland’s recent relegation to the Championship.

West Ham scored just 47 goals from their 38 Premier League matches this season and although Lawson is unlikely to join the first team right away if he is signed up after his trial he could still prove worthy in the future.