Green Street Hammers
Fansided

Losing Diangana would hurt West Ham more than losing Rice

By Henry Tomlinson

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 29: Grady Diangana of West Ham United runs with the ball during the Pre-Season Friendly match between West Ham United and Brentford at London Stadium on August 29, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 29: Grady Diangana of West Ham United runs with the ball during the Pre-Season Friendly match between West Ham United and Brentford at London Stadium on August 29, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The rumoured decision for West Ham to sell Diangana to West Brom could be more detrimental to the clubs season than selling Declan Rice.

It has been reported that West Ham have accepted a £12 million bid from West Brom for Grady Diangana, if true it would be an awful decision made by the club. Diangana has been a bright spark in the teams preseason.

During preseason Diangana has should his ability to play at the required level for the Premier League, exciting many West Ham fans. But should the 22-year-old be sold, it will definitely upset many fans, especially if the £12 million-plus add-ons bid is accurate.

The major problem of selling Diangana for such a low sum is that it would make it incredibly hard to find a replacement with the same quality for the same price. The obvious replacement would be Said Benrahma of Brentford. The attacker is a client of preferred agent Will Salthouse, but would cost the Hammers roughly £25 million to sign.

More from Green Street Hammers - West Ham

This is why selling Diangana for such a low sum does not make sense. The club is already struggling to sign players for one reason or another, therefore selling a player should only be done if a more than one player can be signed with the money brought in from his sale.

Many West Ham fans would understand the sacrifice of Diangana if it allowed the club to sign another attacker and a left-back, e.g. Benrahma and Rico Henry. Hence why if the club needs to sell a player to strengthen the squad as a whole, the sale of Declan Rice makes much more sense.

Of course, the loss of Rice would hurt as much, if not more than losing Diangana and in an ideal world both would be kept at the club and be built aroung. This would be supportive of David Moyes’ ‘Red Bull Model’ But, with Chelsea looking the most likely destination for the midfielder and the club able to demand a fee of between £70 and £80 million, the club could at least strengthen the squad substantially.

With upwards of £80 million, West Ham could sign a replacement for Rice, a new striker to challenge Sebastien Haller and a new centre-back and left-back. Fans would, of course, be disappointed to see Rice leave but could probably understand it.

Next. Selling Diangana would be another nail in GSB’s coffin. dark

Rice is a boyhood Chelsea fan and would have the opportunity to play and compete for trophies. Whereas, those arguments do not exist for Diangana moving to West Brom. If his move to the Hawthorns goes ahead, the owners must be ready for a significant backlash.