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Grady Diangana is right to hassle West Ham for minutes

ByAdam Smith|
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 03: Grady Diangana of West Ham in action during the Pre-Season Friendly match between West Ham United and Athletic Bilbao at the Olympic Stadium on August 03, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 03: Grady Diangana of West Ham in action during the Pre-Season Friendly match between West Ham United and Athletic Bilbao at the Olympic Stadium on August 03, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

West Ham have their Championship starlet returned after a promotion season and Grady Diangana is absolutely right to ask for a minutes guarantee.

After winning promotion in an eventful season in the Championship, Grady Diangana is returning home to West Ham and likely will make the first-team squad, pressing to be a starter. The West Brom left-winger excelled in the Baggies promotion campaign but does have concerns about returning home.

The Daily Mail has reported that Diangana is concerned about minutes for next season back at West Ham, despite Moyes’ interest in the English winger. Moyes wants a young, English team and Grady proved last season that he can be relied on as a key cog in this machine moving forward.

Is Diangana right to question his playing time before the season starts and to ‘reportedly’ request a guarantee? Absolutely. From the Academy of Football to first-team football, Diangana is one of the few beacon players who do everything right and earn a spot in the senior team.

Without success stories like Diangana’s, there is no academy of football, no light at the end of the tunnel for promising youngsters. Diangana took his chance against Macclesfield, played well for the rest of the season, accepted a loan move away, thrived early, sustained an injury, came back and continued to excel. What more do you want from a young player?

With Felipe Anderson and Pablo Fornals, all in competition for the left-mid/wing position, a minute guarantee is tough to promise. However, should the reported outgoings happen, Fornals will likely be played centrally with both Anderson and Lanzini being made spare parts.

Those two pending player moves would open up space for Diangana on the left. With the dreamy addition of Eberechi Eze also looming, the attacking options again become crowded. Jarrod Bowen is a fixture on the right, Diangana should be starting on the left, and Fornals should be controlling play from the middle. Depth isn’t bad is Diangana can handle some competition.

Regardless of player outgoings and incomings, Grady Diangana should be the starting left-mid for the Hammers next season. He proved that hard work and fortitude towards your craft breeds results and has more than earned this opportunity.