Report – West Brom face summer battle with Champions League duo for £15m-rated 22-yr-old
West Brom will face competition from Ajax and Celtic if they are to make Grady Diangana’s loan move permanent this summer, according to The Sun (Print Edition, Monday July 13th, p.47).
The 22-year-old has impressed during his spell at The Hawthorns this season, and has played a key role in Albion’s promotion push.
And it is understood that his form is attracting attention from some of Europe’s biggest sides.
The Champions League duo are said be keen on the wide man, with Ajax even going as far as to express their interest to Diangana’s parent club, West Ham.
For their part, the Hammers are eager to take the winger back to the capital for the 2020/21 campaign, but fear that he will look for an opportunity elsewhere to secure himself a guarantee first team role.
West Brom are also hopeful of turning his loan spell into a permanent deal if they secure promotion in the coming weeks, but may be priced out of the race, with West Ham demanding upwards of £15 million for the player.
The fact that there are two Champions League clubs, one of who made it to the semi-finals just last season, sniffing around Diangana speaks volumes as to just how good the youngster has been this term.
The dazzling winger has been on fire this season, so much so that Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has hailed him an “absolutely fabulous player”.
Where he will be playing his football next season is anything but straightforward, however.
Ordinarily, that price tag, plus the calibre of the clubs chasing and the fact that West Ham are keen on keeping him in East London, would mean that Albion haven’t got a hope of winning the race.
That being said, if Diangana’s priority is first team football, as the Hammers seem to think it is, then you would assume that the place he would most likely be able to secure that would be West Brom.
The price tag would still be an issue, but if his personal ambition is to play football – and a lot of it – then we might not be out of this tussle just yet.
In other West Brom news, Albion could be invited to play for silverware at Wembley next month.
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