**Former West Ham player Grady Diangana celebrates his birthday today. Once the most exciting young talent on West Ham’s books, the winger is now 28 years old.**
Diangana broke into the West Ham first team during the 2018/19 season, catching the eye of supporters and manager Manuel Pellegrini after scoring a brace in the Irons’ 8-0 League Cup victory over Macclesfield Town.
Though he wouldn’t score again for the first team, he impressed during the latter half of that campaign. In January 2019, he signed a six-year deal with the Irons before going out on loan to West Bromwich Albion in the Championship that summer aged 21.
He impressed for Albion under former Hammers boss Slaven Bilić, scoring eight goals in 30 league games as the Baggies sealed promotion back to the top flight. From there, things went south.
West Ham sold Diangana to West Brom for an undisclosed fee, a move that made Hammers fans livid. The Irons were struggling after just escaping relegation the season prior and, to many fans, Diangana was seen as a fresh talent who could provide pace and goals.
Additionally, West Brom were seen as a potential relegation rival. It felt like only a matter of time before Diangana would score a goal that could send the Irons on their way to the second tier.
However, supporters’ disdain at the move was relatively short-lived. After a difficult start to the 2020/21 season, the Hammers enjoyed an incredible campaign, finishing sixth and qualifying for Europa League football. Meanwhile, Diangana’s West Brom were relegated.
Ultimately, the winger failed to live up to the high expectations he set in his Championship breakout season. He made 171 appearances for the Baggies after that season, scoring 18 goals and registering 15 assists across five seasons at The Hawthorns.
Despite the outrage his departure from West Ham initially caused – even Mark Noble criticised the move – the transfer was ultimately inconsequential for the Irons. In hindsight, they probably cashed in on Diangana at the right time.
Diangana now plays with Elche CF in La Liga after leaving West Brom last summer. In his debut season, he has scored once in 765 minutes for the Alicante side, who sit just inside La Liga’s relegation zone.
It will never be known what would have become of Diangana in a West Ham shirt. Perhaps he would have had a role to play in that lockdown season. But given the form of players like Pablo Fornals, Jarrod Bowen, Saïd Benrahma and Jesse Lingard that campaign, it would have been difficult to see him fit in.
It looks like that initial season at West Brom could be where his career peaked. Although he showed real promise when he broke into the West Ham first team, his sale is proof that sometimes people in football know more than us fans.