Grady Diangana Decision Time

With the start of the Barclays Premier League a little over a month away, key decisions need to be made by clubs as to how they will set their stall out for the coming season, not least of which are West Ham United. With 'money too tight to mention' probably being played in the background of the regular hierarchic meetings that take place between manager, co-owners and sun mouth piece to discuss budgetary constraints and player movements, 'the need for speed' with regards to the future of the club's prize assets is paramount.

It is clear to see that under the hypnosis induced by 'Pellegriniman' that the club over extended itself by making some questionable player acquisitions, a couple were OK, but their were also too many 'pups' as well, the folly of having tried to 'go large' has been exasperated by the financial fall out over the Covid-19 pandemic. The 'big' buys and acquisitions players that haven't really cut the mustard since arriving at the London Stadium are going to be hard to shift on, any hopes of recouping their original fees are long gone due to poor form and the fact that global prices for players are down by at least 40%.

If the club had been relegated, the situation would have been catastrophic, so dealing with all the current problems, despite their gravity, is still a 'whole lot better' than it could have been. That said there are some crucial decisions to be made regarding Hammers burgeoning group of promising youngsters, and how best to utilise their value to the club. Clearly there are few funds available to bring in new talent, and those that are available have already been earmarked, so the only option is to promote from within, and West Ham United are fortunate in that their current crop of young players contain more than a few gems.

At least one high priced and high earning 'galactico' has to leave the club in order to free up some space and money, with the likes of Felipe Anderson, Andriy Yarmolenko and Manuel Lanzini all being actively 'touted' as well as Aaron Cresswell, Ryan Fredericks, Fabian Balbuena and of course Jack Wilshere!

Apart from Declan Rice, Grady Diangana is the youngster most coveted by other teams, at times it seems half the clubs in the country want his services and are keen to test the water about a possible transfer. Now, David Moyes is no mug, and has a very respectable track record of bringing in youth players throughout his entire career as a manager, when speaking about Diangana Moyes knows how good the youngster is now, but more importantly how great he can become in the future.

Even if the club were offered between £15-20 Million for the dynamic and versatile Grady Diangana, it would be a short term financial gain that the club would regret from day one, all attempts must be made to keep him happy, and nothing keeps a young player happy more than being given proper game time and not just cameo's from the bench, that and cash as well!

The need for the club to acquire two new full backs is blatantly obvious, but selling a bright star of the future like Grady Dianaga to fund such players would be a Pyrrhic victory that the club would regret, long and hard. Everyone knows some players will have to go, but not Rice or Diangana it would just be too short sighted and paradoxically end up being very costly. - Ed