Report: West Ham still mulling recall of in-form loan star
West Ham United are blessed with plenty of quality young players, with their Under-23s team one of the best in the country.
Sometimes it’s necessary for those players to go out on loan to get the first team football they need to develop.
And in doing so they can sometimes perform so well that calls for them to return to the London Stadium early begin to gather momentum.
That’s certainly been the case with young Hammers winger Grady Diangana this season, with the 21-year-old excelling for Championship promotion-chasers West Bromwich Albion.
He’s scheduled to be there until the end of the season, but Football Insider reported on Thursday that the Irons are considering recalling him this month.
The club are said to have another six days to call the youngster back to east London, as per the loan contract negotiated with the Baggies.
It’s thought that the Hammers are keeping an open mind and have yet to make a firm decision on the player’s immediate future.
David Moyes’ preference is for the Englishman to remain at The Hawthorns for the remainder of the campaign, but injuries to Andriy Yarmolenko and Michail Antonio could see a change of heart.
West Ham Zone’s View
Diangana is having a superb time under Slaven Bilic, and so you’d hate to break that up. But if Moyes’ options out wide continue to deplete then he may have no choice.
The winger has scored five times and bagged the same number of assists, as well as averaging 1.6 shots, 1.5 key passes and 2.4 successful dribbles per game.
It’s clear that he’s making phenomenal progress, and in an ideal world he’d be able to continue doing that. The next few days will be key, however.
In other West Ham news, another of the east London outfit’s young stars is reported to be closing in on a loan move this month.