Colin Murray heaped praise on West Ham-owned attacker Grady Diangana after he wowed for West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
The 21-year-old, who is on loan at the Baggies from West Ham for the season, made his Championship debut against Luton Town and scored two goals to ensure his side got the win.
WBA boss Slaven Billic opted to bring Diangana on from the bench at half-time against Luton, and it took him only six minutes to score a brace to help the Baggies wrap up a 2-1 win.
Murray raved about Diangana’s Championship debut and shared that the 21-year-old did more than just score the goals.
“We’ve had some debuts this seasons, but what about that?” said Murray on EFL on Quest (Quest, Saturday, August 17th, 21:49).
“Diangana, like it wasn’t just his goals, what a handful.”
Former Stoke City boss Gary Rowett agreed with Murray’s praise of Diangana before sharing how the Hammers currently view the 21-year-old winger.
“It was his all-around game wasn’t it,” said Rowett on EFL on Quest (Quest, Saturday, August 17th, 21:49).
“He’s a player I know West Ham rate highly and they’re expecting him to have a very strong season with West Brom.”
OPINION
While it’s good to hear Rowett reveal confidently that he knows the Hammers rate Diangana highly, it’s hardly a surprise. After all, Manuel Pellegrini deemed the 21-year-old winger good enough to feature in 17 Premier League outings last season. Diangana showed glimpses of his ability in his top-flight outings last season, averaging a rating of 6.38 (Source: WhoScored), but given that he only started six league games then the Hammers likely thought that he needed a loan move away in order to get more consistent playing time to help his development. Luckily for the Hammers and Diangana, it seems West Bromwich Albion are going to give the 21-year-old all the playing time he deserves. This is especially the case if he continues to be such a game-changing player for them, as Billic will have no choice but to utilise him. While the Hammers’ season hasn’t gotten off to the best start, after losing to Manchester City and drawing with Brighton, at least Diangana is impressing out on loan.
