West Brom’s season has just been handed a major lifeline, although it comes at a worrying and immediate expense, so here’s the latest news surrounding loan star Grady Diangana.
What’s the situation?
The Baggies were beaten 1-0 by Stoke City at the Hawthorns on Monday night as they slumped to their third defeat of the entire Championship campaign.
Diangana lasted just four minutes in the match on what was his first start since returning from injury, and the latest word coming from the Albion camp is that he could be out for another month, which would be a devastating blow to their fortunes.
However, it does mean that the 21-year-old is more than likely to remain a West Brom player for the rest of the season with West Ham manager David Moyes eluding to that in a recent press conference.
He said:
“It was a big consideration [recalling him].
“His injury last night has put paid to him coming back. We are so short of players just now, [it’ll be] maybe a month’s time when he’s recovered.
“He’ll probably stay there until the end of the season. We think [Josh] Cullen getting games for Charlton is the best thing, too.”
David Moyes, West Ham boss
Season-long boost, immediate blow
The Baggies were preparing a £1.5m offer to keep Diangana at the club as his recall deadline, the 27th of January, rapidly approached, but it now appears as if they won’t have to stump up extra cash this month.
He has been one of West Brom’s most influential players this season, and an argument can be made that he’s even more key to their success than 14-assist king Matheus Pereira.
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When Diangana plays, Slaven Bilic’s side have won 62% of matches, averaged two goals and 2.1 points per game whilst without him those figures drop severely. Their win percentage drops to just 14%, averaging only one goal and 1.1 points per game, via The Athletic.
So this latest update surrounding the enigmatic winger is certainly a double-edged sword as on the one hand, they’ll get to keep him for the title run-in at no extra financial expense, but they’ll be without him for the next six or seven matches which has to be a worry considering the above statistic.
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Albion haven’t won in six straight league matches, can they really afford this injury to Diangana now? Leeds are just a point behind while Fulham are following behind in the automatic promotion race, five points back in third place.
And in other news, West Brom’s reported pursuit of Champions League ace could hinder Kyle Edwards’ future at the Hawthorns…