West Brom want £7m Grady Diangana transfer fee as Leeds United chase him amid ‘surprising’ development
West Brom are “open to offers” for Grady Diangana this summer and want around £7million to let the winger go, Express & Star reports.
The newspaper reported on its website on 1 August that “more surprising interest” from Saudi Arabian clubs has arisen in the Baggies’ 25-year-old attacker, in addition to Championship rivals Leeds United and Leicester City.
Promoted Burnley are also in the running but the former West Ham man is reportedly not at the top of Vincent Kompany’s “wanted list” at Turf Moor.
West Brom have already sold Dara O’Shea to the Clarets for the same fee, while Karlan Grant has gone on loan to Cardiff City.
But the Albion are said to still be looking to “raise funds”, and while they are “not looking to lose players who are hig up in [Carlos] Corberan’s plans” they will let Diangana go as he is nominally third-choice out wide behind Jed Wallace and Matt Phillips.
Diangana has already been mooted as an ideal replacement for Leeds forward Willy Gnonto should the Italian leave Elland Road this summer, with former Eurosport journalist Dean Jones calling the West Brom man “unbelievable”.
Sacrifice
Were it not for the financial pressures then Corberan would probably prefer to keep Diangana as an option in his squad, but the reality of this summer is cash has to be brought in.
At long last incoming business is now getting done, with free agent striker Josh Maja arriving on Tuesday after leaving Bordeaux after Jeremy Sarmiento came in on loan from Brighton.
The young Ecuadorian will make it easier to part with Diangana despite 72 Championship appearances in the past two seasons from the former West Ham man.
And if the Baggies can bank a similar amount for the winger as they did for O’Shea then it would have to go down as decent business in the circumstances, especially if it frees up the manager to land another of his targets before the close of the window, with former Cardiff loanee Sory Kaba wanted.
West Brom seem destined to be joined at the hip with Leeds United in most of what they do currently so if Daniel Farke were to come in for Diangana it would be no surprise.
Corberan’s history there has seen him heavily linked to the Elland Road manager’s job twice, and the Spaniard brought in goalkeeping coach Marcos Abad after he was let go by the Whites.
They are also in the running for FC Mitdjylland’s Kaba, just as the Albion wanted Ethan Ampadu before he signed for them from Chelsea [90min, 17 July], and with the two clubs now set to face off in the second tier their relative transfer business will have a direct effect on each other.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies are move another “significant earner” off the wage bill with an upcoming deal.