West Ham Zone View: Irons must keep in-demand ace amid pundit claim
West Ham United youngster Grady Diangana has been one of the stories of the season in east London, despite not playing a game for the Irons.
His form out on loan at Championship high-flyers West Bromwich Albion has been nothing short of sensational.
It’s been so good that there has been near constant talk about him returning to the London Stadium this month to help out David Moyes’ side.
However, former Premier League striker Kevin Phillips believes that he has been so good that there are now rival teams looking to take him off the Hammers’ hands.
“If West Brom were to go up I’m sure they would try and add him to the squad but these two players, Diangana and [Matheus] Pereira as well, two fantastic signings that have made a huge difference to West Brom and the Championship,” he told Football Insider.
“I know for a fact there’s other clubs looking at them so we just hope that they perform, continue to perform from now until the end of the season and get West Brom promoted.”
If what Phillips says is true and there are other teams looking to sign Diangana, West Ham should be seriously worried.
They need to keep him for the long-term, because he’s a huge talent. He’s proved as much this campaign, while he showed flashes of it last time out.
The 21-year-old’s scored five times and produced five assists, while he’s averaging 1.6 shots, 1.4 key passes and 2.5 successful dribbles per game, with an average WhoScored rating of 7.19.
That’s unbelievable production at this stage of the season from a winger. Plus, it shows that Diangana’s improved from the last campaign.
Previously his end product was the weak point in his game. Now, though, it’s clearly one of his big strengths.
So, it’s not really surprising that rivals teams are said to be in for the youngster, but the Hammers must fight tooth and nail to keep him.
In other West Ham news, the club has received up-and-down injury news on a pair of crocked stars.