OPINION
One of the many positive things surrounding West Ham United at the moment is the emergence of young winger Grady Diangana.
The 5ft 10in 20-year-old [Source: Transfermarkt] has burst onto the scene at the London Stadium in recent times, scoring twice off the bench in his team’s 8-0 demolition of Macclesfield Town in the Carabao Cup last week.
He went on to make his Premier League debut for the club in their 3-1 victory over Manchester United on Saturday, emerging as a late replacement for goalscorer Felipe Anderson.
Football London reports that the winger’s stay in the first team set up will continue over the coming week as the Hammers prepare to travel to Brighton & Hove Albion on Friday night.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini’s decision to keep the youngster a part of his first team squad speaks volumes about how impressed the Chilean has been by him.
If the former Manchester City boss thought the step up had been too much for the young man then he would have sent him back to the U-23’s.
Instead Diangana has every chance of making a third consecutive appearance for the first team against Chris Hughton’s Seagulls.
Whether the 20-year-old will in fact feature in that contest remains to be seen, of course, but the value of his emergence to Pellegrini is indisputable.
The winger provides an exciting and credible alternative to the Hammers’ deadly front three of Anderson, Andriy Yarmolenko and Marko Arnautovic.
The youngster is capable of playing on either side of the pitch, and his ability to make an impact off the bench could prove invaluable to West Ham this season.
Pellegrini is clearly not convinced by summer signing Lucas Perez, while Robert Snodgrass and Michail Antonio have flitted in and out of the team this term.
Instead of the manager giving precious minutes off the bench to a veteran like Snodgrass, he should look to cultivate Diangana’s emergence and help the youngster improve by playing more first team football.
What Diangana does is give the Chilean a fresh option when he needs to rest one of his first choice trio. It doesn’t have to be Snodgrass or Antonio anymore, Pellegrini has an exciting, young winger he can bring on instead.
