Grady Diangana could leave West Brom for Mikey Johnston Celtic transfer as West Ham cash owed
Chris Lepkowski has suggested that Grady Diangana could be moved on from West Brom with the possibility of a deal for Mikey Johnston on the horizon.
Speaking on The Liquidator on 3 March the author suggested that if the Baggies don’t make it to the Premier League through the play offs the 25-year-old might need to be sacrificed to cut down the wage bill, especially now that Celtic loanee Johnston has made himself a potential permanent target for the summer.
He indicated that the club may be more willing to part with the former West Ham attacker, given the strong contract Diangana signed when arriving from the Hammers, since the Irish international has added a new dynamic on loan since January.
Lepkowski said of a move for the Hoops winger (17m 55s): “If we do make the play offs that might change our dynamic for next season depending on how they get on, and actually Diangana is probably part of this discussion.
“We do still owe money for Diangana to West Ham, which is perfectly natural. He did sign a fairly decent contract over a long period.
“We’ve talked about this before, the need to reduce the wage bill as a Championship club, could he be one of the players who does get moved on this summer if we don’t go up?
“I don’t know, but Johnston now has given us a slightly different input into that particular discussion about Diangana’s future.”
West Brom to sacrifice Grady Diangana to sign Mikey Johnston?
Should Carlos Corberan succeed in securing promotion against the odds then there would surely be scope to keep one and still look to buy the other, especially since Shilen Patel has now ended the Guochuan Lai reign.
Johnston has hit the ground running on loan in much the same way that Diangana did five seasons ago, although the latter is currently in the midst of his strongest campaign for the club since his move was made permanent in a major deal worth up to £18million [Sky Sports].
His strike in the 2-1 over Coventry City on 1 March, where he doubled the lead after the Celtic man’s stunning early opener, was his sixth of the season to go with four assists.
But a lot is up in the air headed into the summer, and while the manager has done an outstanding job on a minimal budget the numbers will still have to work longer-term, even if the financial picture isn’t so galling now that Patel is in place.
The Albion won’t have the luxury of keeping everyone in the second tier, so if a deal for Johnston is possible it could potentially be funded by a Diangana sale while contributing to a more manageable wage bill.
Losing an attacking option isn’t the most attractive prospect but the blow would certainly be reduced significantly if an alternative was already being secured.
In other West Brom news, one Baggies target is not set to be the first signing of the Patel era after news emerged amid Albion interest.
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