Angelo Ogbonna has spoken out in admiration of young West Ham duo Issa Diop and Grady Diangana, suggesting that the pair make him “proud”.
The Italian international has partnered Diop in the heart of defence for large spells of this season with Fabian Balbuena sidelined, while Diangana has made fourteen Premier League appearances so far this term.
As quoted in the Mirror, Ogbonna suggested that the duo could go on to big things with the Hammers.
He said: “We have got a few, like Issa Diop and Grady too, and I am very proud of them because the way they train and the way they respect the other players is very good. They make things easier for the team because they listen.
“In this new generation, it is so hard to find the right people who want to learn and understand.
“It is up to the club to try to keep them and to grow something very important with them.”
OPINION
It’s an exciting time to be a West Ham fan when you consider the array of young talent knocking on the door of the first team. Declan Rice is the obvious name that springs to mind when you think of young Hammers prospects, but aside from him, there is a plethora of precocious youngsters on the periphery. Obviously Diop is a more established first team figure, but at 22, he still has the potential to become a genuinely top class central defender. Diangana may have dropped out of the first team a little in recent weeks, but you would still expect big things from him in the near future, and the young Ben Johnson impressed when called upon against Manchester City not too long ago. Away from the London Stadium, Marcus Browne and Josh Cullen are looking good on League One loan spells, and Josh Powell has looked bright since going to Northampton Town in January. The Irons have always had one of the best youth systems in the country, and on the basis of this new crop of fresh talent, that tradition could go on for a while longer.
