This season really has looked like a coming of age for one particular English youngster at West Brom, and whilst the Baggies don’t have the joys of him being their own player, they’ve loved every single minute that they’ve spent watching Grady Diangana this season during his loan spell from West Ham.
The 21-year-old has already contributed an impressive five goals and six assists in the Championship for Slaven Bilic’s side, yet he hasn’t featured in any of the West Midland’s club’s last nine games owing to injury (Transfermarkt), although now it seems he’s almost back.
On Monday, two days after the Baggies 0-0 draw away at Swansea, the West Bromwich Albion official Twitter account tweeted out news which had plenty of the Baggies brimming, as they posted a video of Diangana back in training (@WBA), and his return could prove crucial.
Over the last two weekends, West Brom have gone from leading the Championship by four points to surrendering that and now sitting one point beneath Leeds United in the table with just nine games left to play (BBC), and it will be up to Diangana and co to recover top spot.
He’s certainly got the talent to do just that too. The 21-year-old is a real livewire and his talent cannot be disputed. In his 17 starts and four sub appearances, this season the Hammers’ loanee has averaged 1.5 shots, 1.3 key passes and 2.3 dribbles per game (WhoScored), and getting him fully fit and sharp again will be crucial in the title run-in.
Should West Brom sign Diangana permanently?
Yes
No
It will obviously take a couple of weeks of training for Diangana to find his verve again after so long out injured, so expecting a masterclass from the winger against Birmingham may be asking too much, but there’s every chance he can show just what’s capable of the following weekend in the huge Championship clash at Griffin Park against Brentford.