Acquah forced Southend to hand him a belated scholarship after finding the back of the net on a consistent basis for the under-18s in 2016/17.

He reached the summer of 2017 with 13 goals from 14 youth team starts and chose to pursue his dreams of a professional football career ahead of his studies.

Acquah, whose younger brothers are also at Southend and West Ham United respectively, continued to score goals regularly in his second season with the youth team, netting in 8 successive games between November 2017 and February 2018 on his way to another 22 goals in 27 starts.

He completed his youth team career with 35 goals from 52 games in total.

That was enough to earn a development deal with the Shrimpers, where he has been throughout his football career.

The tall front man, who is as skilful with his feet as he is with his head, joined Isthmian League South Central side Harlow Town on loan in 2018/19 and scored 9 times in 30 appearances for the then-Isthmian Premier Division Hawks before being recalled.

The 19-year-old has made 10 appearances for Southend this season, scoring his first senior goal against Ipswich Town in what was Sol Campbell's first game in charge of the club.